The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies (한국전자거래학회지)

Society for e-Business Studies (한국전자거래학회)
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How eWOM Reduces Uncertainties in Decision-making Process： Using the Concept of Entropy in Information Theory

정보이론의 엔트로피 관점에서의 바라본 온라인 소비자 리뷰의 소비자 의사결정에 있어 불확실성 감소 효과

  • Lee, Jung (Bang College of Business, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research)
  • Received : 2011.09.16
  • Accepted : 2011.10.27
  • Published : 2011.11.30
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Abstract

The present study examines the impact of eWOM on consumer decision making process by viewing eWOM as the product information supplier. We employ the concept of information entropy which was proposed in the information theory to explain different consumer responses to various types of product information in eWOM. Information entropy is the degree of uncertainty associated with the information in the message. In eWOM, a variety of information with different levels of entropy is available, and these different entropy levels result in different impacts on consumer behavior. The preliminary hypotheses are formulated to examine the impact of eWOM on consumer behavior, at the product attribute level and the purchase action level separately. An experiment was conducted to online shopping mall users and the analysis gives valuable insights into our future research.

본 연구는 온라인 소비자 리뷰가 제품정보 제공자로서 소비자 구매결정에 미치는 영향에 대해 살펴보았다. 정보이론에서 제시된 엔트로피의 개념을 이용하여, 온라인 소비자 리뷰 안에 존재하는 여러 가지 종류의 제품 정보에 대해 소비자들이 각각 다르게 반응하는 이유를 설명하고자 하였다. 정보 엔트로피는 한 개의 단위 정보가 감소시킬 수 있는 불확실성의 정도를 의미한다. 온라인 소비자 리뷰에는 각각 다른 정도의 엔트로피를 감소시킬 수 있는 여러 가지 정보가 있고 따라서 소비자는 감소되는 엔트로피의 정도에 따라 각각의 정보에 대해 다르게 반응한다. 본 연구에서는 여러 가지 종류의 정보에 따라 감소하는 엔트로피의 양이, 제품 정보 제공의 전후에 따라 제품 속성에 대한 인식된 중요도의 차이로 나타남을 검증하고자 하였다. 이러한 연구 가설들은 총 268명의 온라인 쇼핑몰 이용자에게 실험을 하여 정보제공의 전후에 따른 제품 속성 별 중요도에 분명한 차이가 있음을 보여줌으로써 확인되었다.

Keywords

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