Effects of message framing and consumers’ regulatory focus on perceived credibility of electronic word-of-mouth and purchase intention

• Tzu-Fan Hsu

  National Taipei University of Business

• Chao-Ming Yang

  Ming Chi University of Technology

We adopted a two-way analysis of variance to evaluate the effect of positive and negative message framing and consumers’ regulatory focus (promotion- and prevention-focused) on the perceived credibility of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and purchase intention. Participants were 344 adults in Taiwan aged between 20 and 60 years. Results show that (a) prevention-focused (vs. promotion-focused) consumers perceived eWOM had greater credibility when they were presented with a negatively framed message, (b) negative (vs. positive) message framing increased the perceived credibility of eWOM for prevention-focused consumers, (c) promotion-focused (vs. prevention-focused) consumers had a stronger purchase intention when presented with a positively framed message, and (d) both prevention- and promotion-focused consumers had stronger purchase intention when exposed to a positively (vs. negatively) framed message. Our findings may provide a reference for companies to establish a set of eWOM marketing strategies.

1. Tzu-Fan Hsu, National Taipei University of Business
   Master’s Program in Creative Design and Management
2. Chao-Ming Yang, Ming Chi University of Technology
   Department of Visual Communication Design

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