E-WOM review adoption and green purchase intention: the application of Source Credibility Theory (SCT)

Abstract

Green products are environmentally friendly products that have less harmful effects on humans and the environment. Green products offer long-term practical development opportunities from social and economic perspectives. Electronic word of mouth (E-WOM) is an important influencer in the review or evaluation of a product by a consumer. This study aims to investigate the effects of E-WOM on green purchase intention by investigating the relationships between independent variables (sender’s expertise, receiver’s search extent and message trustworthiness), mediating variable (E-WOM review adoption) and dependent variable (green purchase intention). By applying Source Credibility Theory (SCT) as the underpinning theory, this conceptual research paper reviews the literature related to source credibility factors, such as sender’s expertise, receiver’s search extent, message trustworthiness, and their relationships to consumers’ review adoption, as well as green purchase intention. As E-WOM plays an important role in persuading consumers at the pre-purchase stage, the current research is significant to researchers, producers and marketers for green products as it could provide insights on the E-WOM factors that influence consumers’ purchase decision of green products.