The effects of gender and social value orientation on the relationship between the valence of consumption emotions and the following motivations for eWOM.

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The effects of gender and social value orientation on the

relationship between the valence of consumption emotions and the

following motivations for eWOM.

Master Thesis

Author: Marit Kalf

University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics and Business

MSc. in Business Studies – Marketing Track

Student Number: 10682139

Date: June 30th, 2014

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Abstract

With the coming of the Internet mouth communication shifted to electronic

word-of-mouth communication as the World Wide Web provided consumers a platform to write about

consumption experiences and share them online. Since then eWOM has become one of the

most effective and influential information sources that consumers consult when they are

making purchase decisions. Insights into the reasons why people create content online is

therefore of crucial importance for organizations and marketers. However, very little is known

about what motivates consumers to engage in eWOM communication. Therefore an

experiment using an online survey was conducted to assess (1) if motivations for eWOM

behavior differ for positive and negative consumption emotion valence and (2) if gender and

social value orientation have an effect on the motivations for eWOM under conditions of both

positive and negative consumption emotion valence. Motivational differences were found for

valence, social value orientation and gender. Specifically the results showed that consumers

who experienced a negative valenced consumption emotion were more strongly motivated by

‘Concern for Others’ and ‘Revenge/Reciprocity’ for eWOM, where consumers who

experience a positive valenced consumption emotion were more strongly motivated by ‘Social

Benefits’. In addition, under conditions of both positive and negative consumption emotion

valence, pro-socially oriented individuals were found to be more strongly motivated by

‘Concern for Others’ and ‘Social Benefits’ for eWOM and pro-self orientated individuals by

‘Revenge/Reciprocity’ and ‘Expressing/Venting Feelings’. It furthermore appears that under

the condition of a negative valenced consumption emotion men are more strongly motivated

by ‘Revenge’, ‘Concern for Others’ and ‘Venting Feelings’ for eWOM and women by ‘Social

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Introduction

Consumers may experience different kinds of feelings, thoughts and emotions when they

engage in the consumption of a service or a product. These feelings, emotions and thoughts

about the consumption experience can be formed to opinions, evaluations and knowledge that

can be shared with other people via traditional word-of-mouth (WOM) communication.

Cheung and Lee (2012, p. 219) define WOM as ‘‘an oral form of interpersonal

non-commercial communication among acquintances’’. Traditional WOM distinguishes itself

from other forms of advertising to the extend that it tends to be free of corporate influence and

sponsorship and is therefore considered as very trustworthy (Buttle, 1998). It has been

acknowledged by different scholars that WOM, with its distinctive capabilities, has the ability

to influence what consumers know, feel and do (Buttle, 1998; Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner,

Cheung & Lee, 2012; Walsh & Gremler, 2004). From a commercial point of view it entails

that WOM has the ability to influence the risk associations and buying decisions of

consumers. The WOM topic is therefore of great importance.

But like the world around us, WOM has changed. Nowadays we live in the Internet era. One

of the most important consequences of the existence of the World Wide Web is the leap

forward it provided in communication technology. It enabled communication to be

bidirectional and reach massive amounts of receivers (Dellarocas, 2003). It is no longer just

the organizations that are able to influence the consumer mass on large scales but also

consumers that are able to influence each other on these scales. Consumers no longer function

solely as audiences in the communication process but interact and create content freely online.

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experiences, feelings and opinions (Dellarocas, 2003; Jalilvand, Esfahani & Samiei, 2011).

The Internet has advanced even further as the Web 2.0 evolution started. Web 2.0 is

characterized by its interactivity, sense of community and collaboration, and enables 24 hour

connectivity between its users (Jansen, Zhang, Sobel & Chowdury, 2009). Interactive Web

2.0 tools like social network sites, weblogs, micro blogs, podcasts and consumer review sites

enable every person to be the author and creator of their own content and share it with broad

online audiences. This form of information sharing over the internet is considered to be

electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication and is characterized by its long lasting

nature, its global accessibility and its magnitude of potential receivers. Where traditional

WOM is still limited in terms of it social reach, eWOM is not (Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004;

Jalilvand, et al., 2011). Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004, p. 39) define eWOM as ‘‘Any positive or

negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet.’’

Whether a positive of negative statement will be made depends on the valence of the

consumption emotion that was experienced (Jeong & Jang, 2011).

Like traditional WOM, eWOM is viewed as a form of unbiased information, consumption

related advice from other consumers that helps to build trust and therefore fosters consumer

cooperation in online settings (Wangenheim & Bay, 2003; Buttle, 1998; Dellarocas, 2003).

Many consumers search for information before the make a buying decision. It was found that

consumers no longer only trust the information received from people within their immediate

social network like their friends, family and acquaintances, but also rely heavily on

information and opinions from provided by people from outside their immediate social

network, especially online consumer reviews (Jansen, et al., 2009; Zhu & Zhang, 2010). It is

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consumers consult when they are making purchase decisions (Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan,

2008; Duan, Gu & Whinston, 2008; Jalilvand, et al., 2011).

Given the level of impact and influence of eWOM, considerable research has been conducted

on the topic, but the scope of this research seems to be very narrow. The focus of the eWOM

research tends to be on determining the different types of responses that consumers

experience when they are confronted with eWOM communication. However less attention has

been given to the antecedents of eWOM. Some scholars have assessed the motivations to

engage in eWOM communication after a consumption experience, but this research seems to

lack depth. Some distinction has been made with regard to motives for positive eWOM and

motives for negative eWOM, but little to no research has taken place on potential moderators

that may influence this relationship between consumption emotions and the following

motivations for eWOM. Furthermore even though it clear that the nature, being either positive

or negative, of eWOM is dependent upon the valence of the antecedent, no research has yet

assessed if differently valenced consumption emotions also lead to different motives.

This study will therefore focus on personal factors, specifically gender and social value

orientation, as potential influencers of the relationship between the valence of consumption

emotions and the following motivations to engage in eWOM communication. As this study is

the first to assess if differently valenced consumption emotions lead to different motivations

for eWOM and if gender and social value orientation influence this relationship, this study

will be exploratory in nature. The aim of this exploratory study is to make scientific

contributions to the current debate on motivations for eWOM communication by deepening

the level of research by investigating (1) if motivations for eWOM behavior differ per

valenced consumption emotion group and (2) if gender and social value orientation have an

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consumption emotion valence. Insights into the effects of gender and social value orientation

on eWOM motives can serve as a solid base for the science to build upon in future research

on other potential moderators. Identifying the effects of gender en social value orientation will

furthermore contribute to the marketing practice as it enables electronic platform operators to

customize their service, by addressing the specific factors that influence consumers’

motivations to leave their feedback, opinions, experiences and feelings online. This

knowledge will facilitate organizations with the information they need to improve their

response by making sure is accurate and reflects an understanding the underlying motivations.

In the following sections an overview of the current literature conducted on consumption

emotions and the motivations for WOM and eWOM will be presented. The proposed effects

of gender and social value orientation on the relationship between the valence of consumption

emotions and the following motivations for eWOM will be set out and tested. This paper will

end with a presentation of the results and a discussion on the implications for the marketing

practice and science, plus some suggestions for further research will be made.

Theoretical Framework

The consumption experience and consumption emotions

After a consumption experience the so called post purchase period starts. Westbrook & Oliver

(1991) argue that consumer satisfaction and consumption emotions are at the core of this

period. The consumption emotions and levels of consumer satisfaction act as mediators

between the initial consumption or purchase experience and the following after purchase

consumer behavior like eWOM, complaining and continued product usage. Different scholars

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experience and the affective responses it evokes have therefore been a topic of interest for

many researchers as they form an important source of human motivation (Westbrook, 1987).

Different scholars have claimed that consumers respond to consumption experiences as they

experience different types of emotions during the consumption itself (Sundaram, Mitra &

Webster, 1998; Mano & Oliver, 1993; Levine, 1996; Westbrook & Oliver, 1991; Söderlund &

Rosengren, 2007). WOM communication is therefore for a large extent driven by these

emotions that were experienced during consumption (Verhagen, Nauta & Felberg, 2013).

These emotions are called consumption emotions and are consumption specific emotional

responses that are elicited during a consumption experience itself or during the usage of a

product or service (Westbrook & Oliver, 1991). These consumption specific emotional

responses are heterogeneous in the sense that they vary from consumer to consumer and from

experience to experience. It is even argued that because of this situational specificity the exact

same experience can lead to different emotional responses dependent on interpretation of the

individual who was subject to the experience (Levine, 1996).

Because the emotions following from consumption are experienced directly, they tend to be

very intense and powerful and have motivational potency (Westbrook & Oliver, 1991). Given

that consumption emotions have this motivational potency it is important to have insights into

the types of emotions that follow from a consumption experience as they have the power to

influence the future actions of the consumer, like engaging in eWOM (Richins, 1997;

Westbrook & Oliver, 1991). One of the theories that under scribes the motivational potency of

consumption emotions is the theory of social sharing (Verhagen, et al., 2013). The theory of

social sharing claims that individuals experience the urge to communicate their emotions with

others as it provides them a means to get help and support, evoke levels of empathy and social

attention and strengthen social ties (Rimé, 2009). Given the social nature of eWOM, as it

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eWOM. Söderlund and Rosengren (2007), who strongly believe that the decision of a consumer to engage in WOM is based purely on emotional antecedents, even claim that the

emotions felt during the incident on which the WOM was initially based are so strong, that

they come back to the sender when the transmission of WOM takes place.

Given the importance and the motivational potency of consumption emotions, further studies

have been conducted to assess what types of emotions people engage in after a consumption

experience. It was found that if the consumption experience was considered to be positive

then following consumption emotions and content of eWOM will be positive as well.

Consequentially if this experience was negative then the consumption emotions and content

of eWOM will be negative (Wetzer, Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2007; Jeong & Jang, 2011). Zhang

and Lee (2012, p. 118) define the difference between positive and negative eWOM as

follows: ‘Positive eWOM refers to consumers’ description of pleasant experience with a

product or their endorsement for a new product while negative eWOM propagates rumors and scandals about a company or product, and consumers’ unpleasant experience with a product or company.’ Eight primary emotions that follow from consumption experiences are

distinguished: anger, sadness, surprise, joy, fear, disgust, expectancy and finally acceptance

(Havlena & Holbrook, 1986; Richins, 1997). These primary emotions are distinct but can be

grouped together based of their nature by the concept of valence. In the next section this

concept will be explained

Valence

This study will follow a valence-based approach, in which negative and positive emotional

states will be contrasted and its effect on decision making motivations will be assessed.

Barrett (1998, p. 580) defines valence as a subjective feeling of pleasantness and

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valence is frequently used to categorize specific emotions. Like Richins (1997, p. 127) states:

‘An emotion is a valenced affective reaction to perceptions of situations’. Emotions that are

typically being viewed as being positive, like joy, have positive valence and are viewed and

experienced as pleasant. On the other hand emotions that are typically viewed as being

negative, like fear and anger, have negative valence and are viewed and experienced as

unpleasant. For reasons of specificity and scope this study will operationalize the valence of

consumption emotions by focussing on two specific emotions of which one has positive

valence and one has negative valence. This study uses anger to operationalize negative

valenced emotions and joy to operationalize positive valenced emotions.

This study will assess both motives for eWOM that follow from consumption emotions with

positive valence and from consumption emotions with negative valence. Some scholars argue

that negative emotions lead to eWOM more often than positive emotions, based on the

general principle that bad emotions have more impact than good emotions (Baumeister,

Bratslavsky, Finkenauer & Vohs, 2001). Furthermore it is argued that negative eWOM is

viewed as more informative by consumers than positive eWOM (Lee, Park & Han, 2008).

Other scholars however claim that the impact of positive eWOM on brand purchase

probability, for example, is greater than the impact of negative eWOM (East et al. 2008).

Therefore it would be of scientific relevance to contribute to the ongoing debate on eWOM

and assess the valence of consumption emotions as antecedents of motivations for eWOM in

greater detail. Insight into the antecedents of eWOM under circumstances of both negative

and positive valenced emotions would also be important for managers in practice to make

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Next to the fact that the valence of emotions determines whether the content of the eWOM

will be positive or negative, it is also expected that the valence of the emotions has an effect

on the goals that people aim to achieve with their engagement in eWOM behavior. Watson

and Spence (2007) argue that different emotions have different behavioral effects. The most

apparent differences happen between different emotional groups, like the behavioral

differences by groups of different emotional valence. However even between emotions of

similar valence differences in consumer behavior occur. Wetzer, et al. (2007) have conducted

a study into motivations that people have for negative WOM communication. In their study

they took an emotion based approach and they found evidence suggesting that the goals for

eWOM differ between different consumption emotions that are experienced. For this study it

would be interesting to see if positive and negative valence lead to different levels of

agreement with certain motives for eWOM or are more closely related in terms of their

consequences than expected. To be able to compare the constructs, four motives will be

evaluated that are applicable for both positive and negative eWOM. The wording of these

motives will differ slightly to capture the emotional nature of the eWOM. These motives will

be set out in the next section, the first hypothesis can however be made:

H1: Positive valenced consumption emotions lead different motivations for eWOM than

negative valenced consumption emotions do.

The emotional responses to a consumption experience have been set out. In the next section

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Motivations for eWOM Motives for traditional WOM

Given the interrelatedness of WOM and eWOM topic, this study will integrate the findings of

studies on motivations for traditional WOM with studies on motivations for eWOM. The

research conducted by Dichter (1966) forms the cornerstone of all following research on the

motivations that consumers have to engage in WOM. Dichter (1966) specifically looks at

motivations for positive WOM, the motivations for negative WOM are not yet considered in

his research. He has found that there are four different types of involvement that consumers

can feel during a consumption experience that leads them to engage in positive WOM

communication. These are product-involvement, self-involvement, other-involvement and

message-involvement (Dichter, 1966).

When a consumer experiences product involvement, sharing excitement about the product

itself will be the motivation to engage in WOM. For self-involvement it is the need to express

oneself to get attention or to show knowledge that forms the motivation. Experiencing

involvement with others will lead to WOM to help these others make better consumption

decisions and last there is message involvement that triggers a longing to expose others to the

unique product message that was experienced. (Dichter, 1966)

Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (1995) continued the research of Dichter (1966) by adding a

new motive specifically for negative WOM: dissonance reduction. This motive claims that

consumers engage in WOM to reduce the feeling of cognitive dissonance after a purchase.

Furthermore Engel, et al. (1995) renamed the already identified motives of Dichter (1966).

Product involvement was referred to simply as involvement, involvement as

self-enhancement, other involvement as concern for others and message involvement as message

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Based on the studies of Dichter (1966) and Engel, et al. (1995), Sundaram, et al. (1998) have

extended the research on WOM motivations even further and identified eight different

motivations that may lead consumers to decide to engage in traditional WOM communication.

Their study was the first to really clearly distinguish motivations for positive WOM (positive

altruism, product involvement, self-enhancement and desire to help a company) from

motivations to engage in negative WOM (negative altruism, reduction of anxiety, vengeance

and advice seeking). The study of Sundaram, et al. (1998) is summarized in the table below in

which the different motivations proclaiming to either positive or negative WOM

communication are provided with a short description.

Table 1. Motives for positive and negative WOM by Sundaram, et al. (1998)

Motives negative WOM

Altruism

The need to help others by warning them about negative consequences of a particular action.

Anxiety Reduction

Need to vent negative feelings in order to reduce anger, anxiety and frustration.

Vengeance

The need to retaliate against the company associated with the negative consumption experiences.

Advice Seeking

The desire to obtain some advice on how to resolve their problems.

Motives positive WOM

Altruism

The act of doing something for others without the anticipation of anything in return.

Product Involvement

Need to vent positive feelings resulting from excitement about product ownership, use and personal relevance.

Self-Enhancement

The need to enhance personal image among others.

Helping the company

The desire to help the company.

Motives for eWOM

Given the interrelatedness of the concepts, researches in the field of motivations for eWOM

have all integrated the findings regarding motivations for traditional WOM communication in

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(1966) and Sundaram, et al. (1998) to an online context. Next to the motivations that were

found for traditional WOM, Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004) also based their study on the

framework of Balasubramanian and Mahajan (2001) that distinguishes three different types of

social interaction utilities that motivate individuals to leave their feedback and opinions

online: focus-related utility (e.g., utility from adding value to the community) consumption

utility (e.g., utility from the consumption of contributions from others) and approval utility

(e.g., utility from the approval of others). Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004) added two other types

of social interaction utility: moderator-related utility and homeostasis utility. Based on this

framework they concluded that there was enough evidence to distinguish in total eight

different motivations for eWOM. These are platform assistance, venting of negative feelings,

concern for other consumers, extraversion/positive self enhancement, social benefits,

economic incentives, helping the company and advice seeking.

Most of the following research on eWOM motives used the study of Hennig-Thurau, et al.

(2004) as their guidline. Cheung and Lee (2012) proposed that the need for a sense of

belongingness and social interaction, concern for other consumers and the enjoyment of

helping these others and the opportunity to improve the own reputation and self-worth are the

most important motives for eWOM. And also Yoo and Gretzel (2008) and Yap, Soetarto and

Sweeney (2013) came to motivations for eWOM that are largely consistent with study of

Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004). Wetzer, et al. (2007) took a slightly different approach and

studied only those motivations for eWOM that follow from negative consumption emotions.

They distinguish advice search, comfort search, venting feelings, bonding, entertaining,

warning, revenge and self-presentation as eight different motivations of consumer to engage

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From the current literature can be concluded that there is a lot of overlap in the motivations

for eWOM that were identified by different scholars. This study will assess both motives for

positive eWOM and motives for negative eWOM as both negative and positive valenced

consumption emotions are considered. Based on the earlier research on the motivations for

eWOM that was outlined above, this study will assess four different motivations per valence

condition. Because this study aims to identify if motives differ per valence conditions these

four different motives will cover the same content but are slightly different in terms of the

usage of different words, like warning instead of helping and positive reciprocity versus

revenge, to reflect their positive or negative nature. These are revenge, venting (negative)

feelings, social benefits and concern for others (warning) as motives for negative eWOM, and

reciprocity, expressing (positive) feelings, concern for others (helping) and social benefits as

motives for positive eWOM. Where revenge, reciprocity, expressing and venting feelings are

considered to be more self-oriented motives and are elicited out of personal concerns, concern

for others and social benefits are more other-oriented motives and are elicited out of social

concerns (Bronner & de Hoog, 2011). This study furthermore proposes that these motivations

are influenced by personal factors. In the following sections the motivations for both positive

and negative eWOM that are used in this study and the proposed effects of personal factors

will be explained in further detail.

1. Concern for others

Concern for other consumers is a social motivation and has been acknowledged as a motive

for eWOM ever since it was distinguished as motive for traditional WOM communication in

the form of altruism in the study of Dichter (1966). In this study it was specifically chosen to

distinguish concern for others, as introduced by Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004), as motive for

eWOM instead of the closely related concept of altruism. Altruism is a form of helping

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altruism really exists as people will at least expect gratitude in return. To avoid these

uncertainties surrounding altruism the closely related motive concern for others will be used.

Concern for others is considered as helping behavior and revolves around helping other

consumers by providing them information about the own consumption experience. It can be

defined as follows: ‘’Helping the receiver make a satisfying purchase decision’’ (Wetzer, et

al, 2007, p. 665). Consumers who have concern for others as their motive for engaging in

eWOM genuinely want to help other consumers make a good purchase decision (Yap, et al.,

2013). Concern for other consumers can both be attributed as motive for positive eWOM in

the form of helping others and as a motive for negative eWOM in the form of warning others.

Warning others. Consumers who have concern for others as their motivation for

engaging in negative eWOM share negative information about the negative consumption

experience to prevent others from having the same negative experience as them. Their aim is

to warn others (Yap, et al., 2013)

Helping others. Consumers who have concern for others as their motive for engaging

in positive eWOM share the positive information about the positive consumption experience

in order to assist others in their purchasing behavior (Zhang & Lee, 2012).

2. Reciprocity

Many studies claim that reciprocity is an important determinant of human behavior.

Reciprocal behavior occurs when consumers reward the kind actions of organizations or

punish the unkind actions of organizations (Falk & Fischbacher, 2003).

Revenge. The punishment of unkind actions is considered to be negative reciprocity

and is known by the public as revenge or vengeance. Feelings of vengeance or taking revenge

are defined as: ‘Behavior that is performed to harm someone else, in response to feeling of

being harmed by that person’ (Wetzer, et al, 2007, p. 665). In the context of negative eWOM

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by explicitly advising other consumers to not conduct any business with the company what so

ever (Sundaram, et al., 1998). Revenge is the most destructive and negative motive that a

consumer can have for engaging in eWOM as the focus lies solely on hurting the company.

Positive reciprocity. On the other side of the continuum of revenge lies positive

reciprocity. Reciprocity is defined by Falk and Fischbacher (2003, p. 294) as ‘a behavioral

response to perceived kindness and unkindness, where kindness comprises both distributional fairness as well as fairness intentions’. In the context of eWOM, consumers would feel the

need to leave positive eWOM in order to help and reward the company for the positive

consumption experience that the company provided the consumer. The motive reciprocity is

closely related to the concept of desire to help the company, one of the motives that were

distinguished in the study Sundaram, et al. (1998). However helping the company in the form

of reciprocity only takes place in the form of a reward for the positive experience that the

company has provided to the actor, not out of an intrinsic motivation to help the company.

Reciprocity is therefore also referred to as conditional altruism. It is a type of behavior

towards others that is conditional on the actions of these others. Like Croson and Gneezy

(2009, p. 458) state: ‘I act altruistically toward you if and only if you have been generous with

me in the past.’

3. Expressing and venting feelings

Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004) claim that the motives venting negative feelings and expressing

positive feelings have their foundations in the balance theory. The balance theory claims that

people have a natural tendency to want to have balance in their lives (Zajonc, 1971). When

people are in a situation in which balance is distorted they will aim to restore equilibrium. In

the context of eWOM communication it is restoration of a state of equilibrium after either a

very strong positive or a very strong negative consumption experience has disrupted balance

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motive for engaging in positive eWOM communication and venting negative feelings as

motive for negative eWOM (Yoo & Gretzel, 2008; Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004).

Venting negative feelings. Venting feelings is defined as: ‘Blowing of steam by expressing the emotion’ (Wetzer, et al, 2007, p. 665). It entails consumers expressing their

negative emotions triggered by the negative consumption experience that they encountered

(Jeong & Jang, 2011). The venting of negative emotions is a means to accomplish a state of

balance after a very negative consumption experience led to a state of unbalance. Venting as

such is a form of anxiety reduction as it allows consumers to shake off frustrations about

negative experiences and helps to get the anger regarding those experiences of their chests

(Verhagen, et al., 2013).

Expressing positive feelings. Positive consumption experiences lead to positive feelings

and emotions and encourages consumers to articulate themselves online (Yoo & Gretzel,

2008; Sundaram, et al., 1998). Consumers engage in the expression of positive feelings as the

desire to release tension emerges after a very positive experience led to a state of unbalance.

Dichter (1966) claims that a very positive consumption experience may lead to internal

tension as consumers experience a strong desire to express and share the positive emotions

about the positive experience with others. This tension can be relieved by engaging in eWOM

communication as it allows consumers to share their feelings with a multitude of other

consumers.

4. Social Benefits

One of the characteristics that differentiates eWOM from traditional WOM communication is

that consumers that engage in eWOM communication become part of the virtual community

through the articulations that they leave online. These consumers are not solely interested in

the content that the online community offers them but appreciate the online dialogs,

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process that happens as consumers actively participate in these communities by leaving

eWOM. (Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004). These consumers derive social benefits from this

bonding process as it leads to community membership. Social bonding is defined as:

‘Decreasing interpersonal distance and strengthening social bonds’ (Wetzer, et al, 2007, p.

665). Bronner and de Hoog (2011) have identified six types of social benefits that can arise

from community membership. These are group attachment, interconnectivity, a sense of

belongingness, group commitment, meeting new friends and nice people and group reference.

So one can state that consumers that have social benefits as their motive for engaging in

eWOM articulate themselves online as it signifies their participation in and membership to the

online community which enables them to receive the social benefits associated with the

membership (Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004)

Personal Moderators

Research has shown that eWOM motivations that follow from consumption experiences differ

for different types of consumers groups (Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004; Yoo & Gretzel, 2008;

Zhang & Lee, 2012). It is argued that there are differences in the motivations for WOM

behavior based on demographic characteristics (Yoo & Gretzel, 2008). Given that consumer

groups are heterogeneous when it comes to their eWOM motivations, it would be interesting

to see how different personal factors will influence these motivations. This will help to build a

larger body of scientific knowledge on the factors underlying the different eWOM motives

and can help with the creation of proper responses to eWOM that reflect an understanding of

these factors that underlie the specific motives. However, so far research has neglected to

identify if and how these personal factors influence the relationship between consumption

emotions and eWOM motives, and this is a gap in the literature that needs to be addressed. So

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Gretzel (2008) found that there are differences in the motivations for eWOM between men

and women. This was expected as earlier studies have indicated that males and females differ

in their decision-making strategies and social behavior (Powell & Ansic, 1991; Cross &

Madson, 1977). Zhang and Lee (2012) found inter-cultural differences in the context of

eWOM behavior, strengthening the expectation of effects for personal factors.

Van Lange (1999) who studied patterns of social interaction claims that there are different

types of motivations in terms of outcomes that individuals pursue that guides their

decision-making behavior. The preferences for the outcomes that people pursue are determined by their

social value orientation. As both gender and social value orientation influence decision-

making behavior, this study expects to find differences in the motives for engaging in eWOM

behavior by gender and by social value orientation. In the following sections both concepts

will be set out in further detail and hypotheses for the effects of both constructs on each of the

four motivations for both valence conditions will be formulated.

Social Value Orientation

Murphy, Ackermann and Handgraaf (2011) argue that it is too simple to assume that people

are guided by narrow self-interest when they are making decisions in social contexts. They

claim that people vary in their motivations when they have to make choices between different

independent outcomes. The concept of social value orientation (SVO) measures the

magnitude of the interest that people have for themselves and for others when they are making

decisions (Murphy, et al., 2011). The concept assumes that people go further than just

pursuing their own goals or outcomes when they are making decisions by also considering the

outcomes and goals of others. Based on this notion the concept identifies four types of

individuals based on the patterns of outcomes they pursue: the individualists (pro-selfs), the

competitors, the pro-socials and the altruists (McClintock & Allison, 1989; van Lange, 1999;

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pro-socials when they pursue an outcome in which the difference between themselves and

others is minimized. In contrast individualists pursue the most beneficial outcome for

themselves and do not care about the outcome of others. Competitors compare their own

outcomes to the outcomes of other and strive to maximize this relative difference and altruists

pursue the most beneficial outcome for others and thereby do not care about the outcome for

themselves (Van Lange, 1999). Given that this concepts suggests that there a high levels of

personal variation in decision-making behavior, one would expect that the social value

orientation of consumers will influence their motivations to engage in eWOM. It was already

suggested by some scholars that the motivations for engaging in eWOM behavior are

influenced by social and self-serving reasons (Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004; Zhang & Lee,

2012). However no extensive research has been conducted in this area so far.

This study will follow the approach of De Cremer and Van Lange (2001) and take two types

of social value orientations into consideration, the pro-social orientation and the pro-self

orientation. Little research has been conducted that combines the social orientation of

consumers with their reasoning behind their participation in eWOM communication. The

studies that have been conducted will be set out in the following section. Cheung and Lee

(2012) make a distinction between egoistic, collective and altruistic motives for eWOM. They

argue that a motive can be considered as egoistic if the ultimate goal of the actor is to increase

his or her own welfare. A motive can be classified as being collective as the actor wants share

his knowledge not to increase his own welfare but to contribute to the welfare of the group.

Altruistic motives are closely related to collectivism with the difference that the actor is

willing to volunteer him or herself without any expectation of something in return. In the next

section an overview of the literature on the relationship between social value orientation and

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1. SVO and concern for others

Research into the relationship between the level concern for others, in the form of helping

behavior, and social value orientation has been conducted by different scholars. General

instinct would make one expect that pro-socials are more likely to engage in helping behavior

than individualist. As pro-socials are concerned with the outcomes of others and helping

behavior can assist others in achieving the outcomes that they aim for. Helping others is even

defined by Maner and Gailliot (2007) as a pro-social act. McClintock and Allison (1989) have

conducted a study into the relationship between SVO and helping behavior and found that for

small requests for help individualist and the pro-socials are all equally as likely to help.

Looking at the amount of help provided gives deeper insight. The amount of help, in terms of

hours of help provided, show that the individualist put in less hour of help then the

co-operators (McClintock & Allison, 1989). This is the first sign that pro-socials are expected to

be more likely to have concern for others as an important motive for eWOM communication

than pro-selfs, as it requires time and effort to leave online feedback. The study of Zhang and

Lee (2012) provides further proof. They argue that pro-socials are found to be concerned with

the common good. They follow a collective approach to decision making in which their

decisions are motivated by contribution to the common good. This line of reasoning is

consistent with motive concern for others in which consumers decide to share the knowledge

about their consumption experience online in order to help others make a good purchase

decision. In this study it is therefore proposed that under conditions of both positive and

negative consumption emotions consumers with a pro-social orientation will show higher

levels of agreement with the eWOM motive concern for others than consumers with a

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H2. Consumers with a pro-social orientation are more likely to be motivated by concern for

others to engage in eWOM communications than consumers with a pro-self orientation under

circumstances of both positive and negative valenced consumption emotions.

2. SVO and reciprocal behavior

Surprisingly it was found that the behavior of pro-selfs can also be led by motivations of

wanting to help (Zhang & Lee, 2012). However these individuals do not wish to engage in

just any type of helping behavior, but only in reciprocal helping behavior. Their willingness to

help others is not without the anticipation of a reward in the form of personal benefits

(Cheung & Lee, 2012; Zhang & Lee, 2012). In the case a positive consumption emotion it is

not out of the goodness of the heart or an intrinsic motivation that pro-selfs experience the

desire to help the company but as reward for the company for the positive emotion it

provided.

Revenge is known to be a self-interested action following from a negative experience that

evokes feelings strong negative valence. Consequentially research found that pro-selfs are

more motivated to take revenge after a dissatisfying experience and pro-socials are less likely

to take revenge (Stouten, De Cremer & Van Dijk, 2009). Also Zourrig, Chebat and Toffoli

(2009) who have conducted a study into the revenge behavior of consumers agreed that there

is enough evidence to claim that individualists are significantly more inclined to engage in

vengeful behavior then their collectivistic counterparts. From the perspective of consumers

with a pro-social orientation this difference can further be explained by the high value they

place on social harmony (Hook, Worthington & Utsey, 2009). Pro-socials would rather

forgive the company than distort social harmony by engaging in vengeful behavior. In this

study it is therefore proposed that under both valence conditions consumers with a pro-self

orientation are likely to have higher levels of agreement with the reciprocal motives for

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H3. Consumers with a pro-social orientation are more likely to be motivated by reciprocal

motives to engage in eWOM communications than consumers with a pro-self orientation

under circumstances of both positive and negative valenced consumption emotions.

3. SVO and venting feelings

The behavior of venting and expressing feelings is like reciprocity considered as a more

individualistic type of behavior (Cheung & Lee, 2012). Research has found that individualism

is positively related to expressivity, especially when it involves the expression of emotions

(Matsumoto, Yoo & Fontaine, 2008). The relationship between expressivity and

individualism can be explained by the differences in the level of confidence. In the study of

Lalwani, Shavitt and Johnson (2006) it was claimed that one of the most important qualities

of individualistic people is self-confidence. This makes it for individuals with a pro-self

orientation easier to share and express their emotions. Furthermore it was found that

individualists are mainly motivated by personal goals, like the reduction of anxiety and

stabilization of balance, and much less by group goals (Hook, et al., 2009). They will

therefore shower higher levels of agreement with individualistic goals like venting and

expressing. It is therefore proposed that under circumstances of both negative and positive

consumption emotions valence pro-selfs will show higher levels of agreement with venting

and expressing feelings as motive for eWOM than pro-socials.

H4. Under circumstances of both positive and negative valenced consumption emotions

pro-selfs are more likely motivated by venting and expressing feelings to provide eWOM

communication than pro-socials.

4. SVO and social benefits

De Cremer and Leonardelli (2003) who have studied the need for social belongingness argue

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(Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Naturally consumers with a pro-social orientation are more

likely to care about social benefits like feelings of belongingness and group attachment as

these individuals are more socially orientated. Van Lange, Agnew, Harinck and Steemers

(1997) have conducted a study into the differences between individualists, pro-socials and

competitors and their willingness to invest in social relationships. They found that

individualists do care about social relationships and a sense of belongingness but are limited

in their willingness to invest in it. Individualist will invest in relationships only if there are

long term self-oriented reasons for doing so (Van Lange, et al., 1997). It was found that

pro-socials however are for more willing to invest in social relationships as they are of crucial

importance to them and fit with their pro-social behavior. This is a first indication that it is

highly likely that pro-socials will show higher levels of agreement with socials benefits for

eWOM than pro-selfs.

The concept of self-confidence provides further proof for this expectancy. It was found that

individuals with a pro-self orientation generally have higher levels of self-confidence than

individuals with a pro-social orientation (Lalwani, 2006). In the study of Greenwald and

Banaji (1995) it was argued that social support significantly increases self-confidence and

Corcoran and Mallinckrodt (2000) argue that group attachment is also positively related to

confidence. So the level of self-confidence of persons can be increased by gaining social

support and group attachment. As was discussed in the previous section on the eWOM

motives, group attachment and social support are two of the benefits that people aim after

when they engage in eWOM in order to reach social benefits. As these factors are positively

related to self confidence, it can be argued that it is likely to be a more important motive for

pro-socials as they experience a strong need for self confidence that can be achieved by these

benefits where pro-self already have high levels of self-confidence. Based on this tendency

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that consumers with a pro-social orientation are more likely to have social benefits as an

important motive for eWOM than consumers with a pro-self orientation.

pro-socials are more likely motivated by social benefits to provide eWOM communication than

pro-selfs.

Gender

There have been many researchers that have examined differences of gender. The question if

men and women are different is one that has received attention from many different scholars

and has been studied from many different angles (Deaux & Major, 1987; Meyers-Levy &

Sternthal, 1991). These include studies into the human anatomy but also studies into

differences in personality traits and behavior. Feingold (1994) has conducted a meta-analysis

and argues that there are concrete differences in personality traits between males and females.

Feingold (1994) argues that males tend to be more confident and have a higher

self-esteem then females. Females were found to be more outgoing and experience more feelings

of nurturance. Furthermore females were found to have more trust in others but at the same

time experience higher levels of anxiety then males. Meyers-Levy and Sternthal (1991)

argued that gender differences exist in social behaviors as males tend to be driven by

self-focused goals like achievement drift and self-efficacy where the behaviors of women are more

driven by affiliation with others and communal concerns. In relation to emotions Wilkowski,

Hartung, Crowe and Chai (2012) found that gender has a significant impact on feelings of

aggression. Males tend to show significantly more physically aggressive behavior than

women do. It was found that the enactment these differences between men and women

happen primarily during social interactions (Deaux & Major, 1987). Maccoby (1990) even

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that these personal differences per gender exist and that they are enacted in the context of

social interactions one would expect this to influence the relationship between the valence of

consumption emotions and the following motivations for eWOM. However, little research has

been conducted to see if such an effect of gender exists. In the next sections an overview of

the literature on the relationship between gender and the stated motivations for eWOM of this

study will be presented and propositions for the expected effects of gender will be formed.

1. Gender and concern for others

Helping behavior is considered to be a social behavior and is therefore subject to social

norms. These social norms are based on the roles that individuals play within the social

context. One of the most important determinants of these social roles is gender. (Deaux &

Major, 1987) As helping behavior is subject to role behavior, gender has been identified as an

important factor influencing the motivation of individuals to help others (Salminen & Glad,

1992; Eagly & Crowley, 1986). In general it has been argued that females are more likely to

engage in helping behavior as they tend to be more concerned about the feelings of other

peoples than males (Meyers-Levy & Sternthal, 1991). However social roles seem to have an

altering effect on this tendency. In the current social context males are expected to engage in

chivalrous and random acts of rescuing and helping strangers in negative situations (Deaux &

Major, 1987). They are viewed as being helpers in times of need. In this study it is therefore

proposed that under circumstances of negative emotion valence men are more likely to show

higher levels of agreement with the motive concern for others for engaging in eWOM

communication than women. In positive situations females are expected to care for and tend

to the needs of others, as they experience higher feelings of nurturance and concern for others

(Yoo & Gretzel, 2008; Feingold, 1994). However this tendency is especially strong towards

the needs of those individuals that females have a close relationship with, not towards random

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this tendency is still strong enough to cause significant differences in the motivation concern

for others between men and women. However as the overall believe is that women are more

caring in nature and more likely to engage in helping behavior this study proposes that

women, under circumstances of positive consumption emotion valence, are likely to show

higher levels of agreement with concern for others as motive for eWOM than men.

H6a. Under circumstances of negative valenced consumption emotions men are more likely

motivated by concern for others to provide eWOM communication than women.

H6b. Under circumstances of positive valenced consumption emotions women are more likely

motivated by concern for others to provide eWOM communication than men.

2. Gender and venting feelings

Universally it is believed that men and women differ in terms of the feelings and emotions

that they engage in after experiences and their tendency to express these feelings and

emotions. It is argued that women are more emotional in nature and the expectation of many

studies assessing gender differences in emotional expressiveness is that women are more

emotionally expressive than men. Different studies have been conducted and most of them

agree that women tend to be more expressive on most emotions than men (Kring & Gordon,

1998). When it comes to social behaviors however it was found that men are more likely to be

guided by self-focused concerns like the need to relieve themselves from their feelings, where

the behaviors of females were more led by communal concerns (Yoo & Gretzel, 2008). Other

studies argue that women and men are equally likely to express their feelings (Wagner, 1990;

Vrana 1993). Simon and Nath (2004) took valence based approach and found that under

circumstances of positive emotions men were found to express these emotions more

frequently than women. Under circumstances of negative emotions however women tend to

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gender differences in the context of eWOM, they found that men show higher levels of

agreement with the motive than women do. Their finding is thereby perfectly in line with the

finding of Zhang and Lee (2012) that men are more confident in sharing their negative

opinions online. As this study also tests the motive of venting feelings for gender differences

in an online WOM context it will take the results of Yoo and Gretzel (2008) as its guideline

and propose that under circumstances of negative valence men are likely to have higher levels

of agreement with venting feelings as motivation to engage in negative eWOM than women.

For positive emotions the findings of Simon and Nath (2004) and Yoo and Gretzel (2012) will

be taken as guideline as this study takes a valence based approach in a social context.

Likewise it is therefore expected that under circumstances of positive consumption emotions

men are more strongly motive by the need to express feelings than women.

H7. Under both circumstances of negative and positive valenced consumption emotions men

are more likely motivated by venting feelings to provide eWOM communication than women.

3. Gender and reciprocal behavior

Research into vengeful feelings by gender has suggested that men are more likely to act out of

vengeance than women. This difference is attributed to the fact that men tend to be more

aggressive than women. However even though a difference in the tendency to act out of

vengeance between men and women was found, with men being more likely, this result was

not significant (Cota‐McKinley, Woody & Bell, 2001). Further research on the topic was conducted by Wilkowski, et al. (2008) who did find significant differences between males and

females. The role that men are expected to play within social settings provides deeper

insights. They argue that because the social pressure to retaliate after harmful actions of others

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study it is therefore expected that under circumstances of negative consumption emotions men

will show higher levels of agreement with vengeance as motive for eWOM than women.

For positive reciprocal behavior different results were reported. Contrary to the findings for

negative reciprocal behavior it was found that women tend to be more generous in rewarding

others than men (Schwieren & Sutter, 2008; Croson & Gneez, 2009). Behind this tendency of

women to reward where appropriate lies a deep difference between men and women and their patterns of behavior. It was found that the behavior of women is very much context dependent

where for men it is more absolute and a matter of principle (Croson & Gneez, 2009; Gilligan,

1977). So where fairness of the decisions on how to behave towards others is considered to be

constant for males, for females it was found to be highly dependent on the circumstances

surrounding the decision. So under the circumstance that other actors have treated a female

well, these females are likely to reward this act of others by rewarding it in response to the

positive treatment they received. The difference in reciprocal behavior towards the company

by gender in the context of eWOM behaviors has also been assessed by Yoo and Gretzel,

(2008). They also found that women were more likely to act reciprocal towards the company

by leaving positive eWOM. In this study it is therefore expected that under circumstances of

positive consumption emotions females show higher levels of agreement with reciprocity as

motive for eWOM than men.

H8a. Under circumstances of negative valenced consumption emotions men are more likely

motivated by revenge to provide eWOM communication than women.

H8b. Under circumstances of positive valenced consumption emotions women are more likely

motivated by positive reciprocity to provide eWOM communication than men.

4. Gender and social benefits

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depend to a large extend to the salience of their social relationships (Gore, Aseltine Jr &

Colten, 1993). Furthermore Yoo and Gretzel (2008) found that the social behaviors of women

are strongly led by communal concerns. They thereby confirm the findings of Cross and

Madson (1977), who studied sex differences in social behaviors, that women tend to seek

intimate and strong relationships with other individuals where men strive for independence

and separateness from others. Under the conditions of an online environment it was argued

that women use the Internet to gain social support through online cooperation and network

like collaboration (Fan & Miao, 2012). In this study it is therefore proposed that under

circumstances of both negative and positive valence women are likely to show higher levels

of agreement with social benefits as motive to engage in eWOM than men.

women are more likely motivated by social benefits to provide eWOM communication than

men.

Research Methodology

Design

This study used a 2 (gender) x 2 (SVO) between subjects design. Furthermore valence of

consumption emotions was added as an additional within factor. The independent variables of

this study are consumption emotion valence, social value orientation and gender. The motives

for eWOM are the dependent variables of this study. The study is quasi-experimental as

gender cannot be manipulated. The biggest advantage of using an experimental design is that

it provides a great level of control. Especially for studies testing behavioral assumptions,

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2009). The experiment will be conducted via an online survey (please refer to Appendix I for

survey).

Respondents

As this study is about the creation of online content and the Internet is accessible for every

individual, this study was not limited to certain users. Every individual could participate. An

online survey was created to conduct the experiment as the creation of eWOM happens

online. Internet users were asked to participate in the study via face-to-face communication,

direct e-mails and social media (e.g. Facebook and LinkedIn). Some of these participants

spread the online survey around in their own networks in order to increase to total amount of

respondents.

During a period of thirty days a total of 329 respondents participated in the experiment. The

group of respondents consisted of 181 females and 148 males, with an average age of 25.25

years old (SD = 16.20). All participants were between 14 and 65 years old. An overview of all

demographic statistics is provided in table 2 hereunder.

Table 2: Demographical statistics (N = 329)

Gender Male 148 45.0% Female 181 55.0% Age <20 80 24.3% 21-25 182 55.3% 26-35 41 12.5% 36-55 17 5.2% >56 9 2.7% Education High school/Secondary school 80 24.9%

Associate's degree (MBO) 12 3.6%

Bachelor's degree (HBO) 84 25.5%

Master's degree (WO) 150 45.6%

Other 1 0.3%

Nationality Dutch 320 97.3%

Other 9 2.7%

Mother Tongue Dutch 311 94.5%

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Stimuli and materials

Social value orientation. Social value orientation can be rooted in either personal

differences or in situations such social relationships and special situations. However social

motives can also be rooted in the experimental instructions from supervisors (De Dreu,

Weingart & Kwon, 2000). Following Deutsch (1958), in this study social value orientation

was manipulated via instructions. To manipulate the social value orientation of the

respondents two fake news articles have been created in which either the need to consider

others or the need to focus on oneself when making decisions was instructed. It was chosen to

use a fake news article as most individuals tend to believe what they read in the press

(Robinson & Kohut, 1988). In the pro-social orientation condition, the news article instructed

the participants to be concerned about the outcomes and welfare of others while in the pro-self orientation condition participants were instructed to disregard others and to do as well for themselves as possible. To throw participants off guard and keep them unaware that their

value orientation was being manipulated participants were told that they needed to complete a

concentration task in which they were asked to concentrate on the news article that was

provided and summarize its content in one sentence.

Consumption emotion valence. The consumption emotion valence was manipulated by confronting participants with two different consumption scenarios that evoke specific

consumption emotions. The first scenario consists of a consumption experience that evokes an

emotion that has negative valence (anger), the second of a consumption experience that evokes an

emotion that has positive valence (joy). The influence of eWOM, specifically online reviews, is

especially important for industries that offer intangible services, like the travel industry

(Litvin & Goldsmith, 2008). It is even argued that four out of five consumers decide on their

vacation destination based on online reviews provided by other consumers (Reevoo, 2012)..

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the participants. A counterbalance design was followed in which participants were randomly

assigned to a different order of presentation of the situations. In both valence conditions the

respondents were asked to carefully read and place themselves in the consumption situation at

hand. In both situations an important trip via a travel organization was booked in which the

accommodation turned out to be below standard. In the negative valence condition the

consumer goes to the local office, where he or she is humiliated and treated in a way that

evokes anger, but in the end walks away with an up to standard accommodation. In the

positive valence condition the consumer goes the local office and has great time, joking

around and treated in a way that evokes joy. In the end again an up to standard

accommodation is arranged. So the operationalization and outcome were kept the same but

the way the consumers were treated by the travel organization differed per scenario. The

respondents were asked to imagine how they would feel if this situation were to happen to

them and what their motivation would be to write a review about their experience with travel

organization if they had to opportunity to leave online feedback.

Motivations for eWOM. For both scenarios, positive consumption emotion valence

and negative emotion valence, the four motives for leaving eWOM were examined. The

motives of this study were all measured with separate scales by presenting the respondents

eleven different statements per emotion valence. A combination of the items of the studies

from Hennig-Thurau, et al. (2004) and Wetzer, et al. (2007) was used to measure the

motivations. The items were slightly adjusted to make them applicable to online reviews

based on the situations that were presented and to capture the positive and negative nature of

the reviews. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with each item on

five-point rating scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Therefore a

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to the construct of one of the motives of this study: (1) revenge, (2) venting negative feelings,

(3) warning others (concern for others, negative valence), (4) social benefits (negative

valence), (5) reciprocity, (6) expressing positive feelings, (7) helping others (concern for

others, positive valence) and (8) social benefits (positive valence). For each type of valence

three neutral items were added that tap into the motives revenge/reciprocity, venting feeling

and warning/helping others to be able to compare the scales. For the motive ‘social benefits’

no neutral item was added as the statements are the same for both conditions.

Results

Pre-Test

An extensive pre-test has been conducted to make sure that the suggested manipulations for

consumption emotion valence and social value orientation work properly.1 Please refer to

Appendix I for the used questionnaire for the pre-test. A total of 23 respondents participated

in the pre-test. In this study the SVO Slider Measure was used to measure the magnitude of

the concern that people have for others when people are making decisions in social contexts.

The SVO Slider Measure consists of items that form resource allocation choices over a well

defined continuum of joint payoffs (Murphy, et al., 2011). Each respondent evaluated each

item and indicated the preferred allocation choice based on which a score was calculated that

indicated the social value orientation of the respondent. A score between to lowest possible

value and -12.03 indicates a competitive orientation, a score between -12.04 and 22.44

indicates a individualistic (pro-self) orientation, a score between 22.45 and 57.15 indicates a

pro-social orientation and finally a score between 57.16 and the highest possible score

indicated an altruistic orientation (Murphy, et al., 2011).

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An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the social value orientation of the

respondents in the pro-self and no pro-social conditions. There was a significant difference

in the social motives scores for the pro-self (M=13.2, SD=14.2) and the pro-social (M=44.4,

SD=17.0) conditions; t (21) =4.80, p = 0.000. As p < 0.001 the results reach significance.

These results suggest that the social value orientation manipulation really does have an effect

on the social motives of the respondents. Specifically, these results suggest that when

respondents are confronted with the pro-self manipulation their decision making behavior

can be classified as being individualistic (pro-self oriented) (M=13.2). The respondents that

were confronted with the pro-social manipulations however showed decision making

behavior in line with a pro-social orientation (M=44.4).

To assess whether the valence manipulations of this study, the situations with the travel

organization, led to the proposed emotions, joy and anger, respondents were asked to express

their feelings about the consumption situation that was presented. For the negative valence

condition the most cited emotions were anger, madness and outrage. For the positive emotion

valence condition the most cited emotions were happiness and joy. This provides the first

indication that the situation leads to the emotional states that were proposed. Furthermore an

independent samples t-test was conducted on ten different emotions.

Table 3: Means, Standard Deviations, Significance Negative Valence Positive Valence

Joy 1.17(0.39)a 4.09(1.38)b Anger 4.92(0.29)a 2.07(1.49)b Sadness 3.80(0.39)a 1.64(0.67)b Surprise 3.67(1.07)a 3.82(0.87)a Disgust 4.01(0.84)a 1.82(0.87)b Contempt 2.25(1.42)a 4.09(0.54)b Interest 2.25(0.87)a 2.64(0.92)a Guilt 1.75(1.29)a 1.09(0.30)a Shame 1.92(1.40)a 1.18(0.41)a Fear 1.83(1.19)a 1.27(0.64)a a-b: significant at 0.05 level

The effects of gender and social value orientation on the relationship between the valence of consumption emotions and the following motivations for eWOM.