The Research On The Interaction Effect Between Spatial Distance And WOM Valence On WOM Persuasiveness

The development of network communication technology and the popularity of online shopping have greatly changed the way of communication between consumers.More and more people are willing to browse online WOM when make online purchase.The spread of online WOM breaks through the limitation spatial distance,reduces the cost of information communication,and improves the rate and efficiency of information flow.Many scholars believe that the effect of spatial distance is disappearing.However,people can still see many distance information on the Internet.For example,reviewers on Sears can show their geological location when post their reviews;Taobao business owner can show the map of its buyers.Some scholars gradually show interest in the research of spatial distance and have made a preliminary exploration on the impact of spatial distance on consumer psychology.However,at present,research on the influence of spatial distance in online WOM filed has not been extensively and profoundly explored,and especially research on the interaction effect of spatial distance and WOM valence remains sparse.Therefore,in order to further explore the effect of spatial distance in the context of online consumption,this study focuses on the field of online WOM,combines construal level theory and motivation psychology,by using the methods of questionnaire and experiment,and explores the effect of spatial distance between reviewer and browser on persuasion and its mechanism varying WOM valence.The content of this study can be divided into three parts.The first part is to explore the degree of consumers' perception of spatial distance in the context of online WOM,which can provide a research premise for the follow-up research(pilot test).The second part is to explore whether there is an interaction effect between spatial distance and WOM valence on persuasion(study one).The third part is to explore the mechanism of the effect of interaction between spatial distance and WOM valence on WOM persuasion.The present research proposes that consumer attention works as a mediator(study two).Results show that the interaction between spatial distance and WOM valence significantly affects WOM persuasion,specially,when the WOM is positive,people tend to think WOM from near reviewers are more persuasive;while the WOM is negative,people tend to think WOM from distant reviewers are more persuasive,and the level of consumer attention plays a complete mediating role in this process.This study has enriched the relevant researches in the field of online WOM,and especially highlighted the influence of spatial distance as a heuristic cue on consumer psychology,which has enriched the application of theories such as construal level theory and motivation psychology in the new media environment.At the same time,this study also has great managerial implications,which can provide more marketing ideas for online business to display online reviews in a more scientific and reasonable way,as well as help them to promote their advantages and avoid disadvantages,and correctly use consumers' spatial location information,so as to achieve their own development goals while improving consumers' experience.