Mine Your Customers or Mine Your Business: The Moderating Role of Culture in Online Word-of-Mouth Reviews

Consumer- and producer-generated content on the Internet has become an important source of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) for buyers making purchasing decisions. However, the cultural effect of eWOM on firm performance remains largely unexplored. This research contributes to the extant marketing literature by examining the moderating role of culture in the relationship between eWOM and product-market performance. The author finds that individualism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance tempered the effect of eWOM on market share. In particular, the impact of press releases and negative reviews has been overrated. The findings suggest that effective online international marketing strategies should take into account local market values, country-of-origin effects, and product competition.