The eWOM impact on sales distributions in markets: Based on different product evaluation standards

SHI Wei

Systems Engineering - Theory & Practice ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (7) : 1744-1752.

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Systems Engineering - Theory & Practice ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (7) : 1744-1752. DOI: 10.12011/1000-6788(2016)07-1744-09

The eWOM impact on sales distributions in markets: Based on different product evaluation standards

  • SHI Wei
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Abstract

The product information in eWOM helps customers to reveal their demands more clearly, thereby leading to the change of sales distributions in online markets. This study investigates the impact of electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) on sales distributions in various markets. For the research, we categorize the markets based on the similarity level of product evaluation standards. We formulate three hypotheses about the specific impacts of eWOM on the sales distributions in various markets, and they are validated with the data collected from www.jd.com. We plot the cumulative distribution functions of eWOM, which represents the total popularity, and statistically compare them using the Wilcoxon signed rank test to show the different eWOM ratio possessed by the high-ranking products. All the test results show the adequate level of significance; thus the three hypotheses are supported.

Key words

eWOM / electronic commerce / sales distribution / product type / Wilcoxon signed rank test

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SHI Wei. The eWOM impact on sales distributions in markets: Based on different product evaluation standards. Systems Engineering - Theory & Practice, 2016, 36(7): 1744-1752 https://doi.org/10.12011/1000-6788(2016)07-1744-09

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Funding

The Results of Social Science Planning Project in Zhejiang Province (16NDJC079YB);Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY15G030023);National Natural Science Foundation of China (71371144)

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