ABSTRACT
Interactions and relationships that involve word-of-mouth on social networks, or electronic word of mouth (eWOM), can take many forms, ranging from a relationship that resembles the offline variety to a relationship that is more one-sided. Understanding how consumers respond to eWOM communications from various sources in different contexts is important because consumers seem to be becoming more and more resistant to traditional marketing communications. Resistance should be lower for eWOM messages than for traditional messages, but even within the eWOM, context resistance may vary across different sources and conditions. One would suspect that eWOM from the source is strongest on Facebook because it is most reminiscent of the face-to-face WOM. When real friends share updates on Facebook that include product recommendations or they respond to questions like, "who is a reliable local plumber", this can feel as real as a conversation across the fence in the backyard.
