Electronic Commerce & Digital Markets / Consumer Reviews and Social Media Marketing

The daily use of social media is a vital part for a large proportion of today's online population. With the help of many different kinds of applications consumers may create and exchange content and interact with each other, which results in a faster exchange of information compared to traditional (i.e., offline) channels. In addition, this user-generated information is of high importance for consumers and their decision-making because it is perceived to be more credible and trustworthy than information published by firms. Firms, however, are also well aware of the importance that this kind of information has for consumers and try to profit from its impact on consumers' decision making as well as from the fast dissemination of information via the Internet. Therefore, an increasing number of firms is using social media as part of their marketing communication mix.
This dissertation comprises five independent articles in which Daniela Baum investigates the influence of online consumer reviews on consumers and their decision making, as well as the use of social media campaigns with regard to new product introductions. To gain new insights into consumer behavior, she experimentally investigates the influence of online consumer reviews. In her studies, she concentrates on the influence of consumer reviews on customer satisfation as well as on the interplay between consumer reviews and recommender systems and their combined influence on consumers' purchase decisions. Using field data, she analyzes the success of using social media campaigns to support new product introductions as well as the impact of these campaigns on a successful new product introduction. For her studies, she uses various samples, experimental research and research in the field as well as diverse statistical methods.