There are growing interests in understanding how word-of-mouth (WOM) on the Internet is generated and how it influences consumers' purchase decisions at retail outlets. A unique aspect of the WOM effect is the presence of a positive feedback mechanism between WOM and retail sales. We...

Consumers consistently resort to online Word-of-Mouth (WOM) as an effective remedy for the lack of physical trials in online shopping. Nevertheless, they are confronting relatively different levels of search costs for WOM information depending on the distribution of WOM across websites. This...

Firms use social media marketing to promote products and collect consumer feedback for the product development process. Their practice of investing in retailer-hosted Word-of-Mouth (internal WOM) is supported by a positive feedback mechanism between internal WOM and retail sales. Internal WOM is...

Our study examines the impact of both a demand side factor (online user reviews) and a supply side factor (product variety) on the long tail and superstar phenomena in the context of online software downloading. The descriptive analysis suggests a significant superstar download pattern and also...