Given the importance of online word of mouth (WOM), there has been an increasing need to understand the psychological mechanisms that underlie WOM transmission (i.e. sharing of opinions) and reception (i.e. processing of received messages). The goal of the current paper is to review some of the most recent research in online WOM (focusing on the past two to four years) as well as make suggestions regarding future research. [For earlier syntheses on WOM senders and social media marketing, see King et al., 2014, Stephen, 2016, Whitler, 2014] [6–۸].

Introduction

With the rise of online socialmedia platforms (e.g.Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and e-commerce websites (e.g. Amazon), online WOM has become a popular and vitalsource of information for consumers. The importance of WOM has been documented by a number of articlesthat analyze large amounts of e-commerce and social media data: Consumer chatter affects product preferences, purchase decisions[1,2] and ultimately, firm’s financial performance [3,4]. The impact of WOM is also widely acknowledged by marketers and brands alike [6–۸]. Forinstance, the majority of marketing executives (61%) say that WOM is the most effective form of marketing [5]. This paper is organized around specific factors (e.g. valence, linguistic cues) that have gained attention in WOM research. For each factor, we review its effect on senders and receivers separately to highlight the factor’s differential effects on the two groups. This approach will also reveal imbalances in the literature, highlighting potential areas for future research.