The document discusses word-of-mouth recommendations on the internet (word-of-mouse) and how they influence consumer purchase intentions, specifically for hot spring hotels. It reviews literature showing word-of-mouth impacts consumer behavior. The study aims to explore how source credibility and trust relate to purchase intentions. A survey was conducted with tourists at Guguan hot springs to measure expertness, trustworthiness, attractiveness, trust and purchase intentions. Results were analyzed to understand relationships between variables and test hypotheses.

1. Adviser: Dr. Meng-Jang Lin Presenter: Stan Chung Date: March 23, 2010

2. I. Introduction II. Literature Review III. Methodology

3. II. Statement of problem I. Research Background III. Research Purpose

4. Regular Internet user in Taiwan

5. 91% Taiwanese rely on the recommendations from other consumers. 76% Taiwanese thought web-based opinions are trusted. (Nielsen, 2007)

6. Word-of-mouth has been approved by many researchers that it has huge effect on consumer’s purchasing behavior. (Buttle, 1998; East, Hammond, & Lomax, 2008; Godes & Mayzlin, 2004)

7. Word-of-Mouse Word-of-Mouse Word-of-Mouth = Internet +

8. Previous WOM researches focused on the study of products. Few researches were discussing about the field of hotel accommodation, especially for hot spring hotel.

9. to explore the relationships between source credibility of word-of-mouse, trust and consumer purchase intention

10. 1. How does source credibility affects consumer purchase behavior? 2. How does trust affect source credibility on purchase intention?

11. III. Consumer information seeking I. Word-of-mouse III. Trust II. Source Credibility

12. Consumer information seeking behavior Attempting to purchase Perceiving risk, anxious Minimizing the risk Seeking information (Srinivasan & Ratchford, 1991)

13. Word-of-Mouse Direct to multiple individuals No time & geographic restriction Anonymity Characteristics (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, Walsh & Gremler, 2004)

14. The need for trust only arises in a risky situation. (Mayer et al., 1995) Anonymity Credibility?

15. Definition of Source Credibility A communicator’s positive characteristics that affect the receiver’s acceptance of a message. (Ohanian, 1990)

16. Source credibility Expertness Trustworthiness Attractiveness the extent to which a communicator is perceived to be a source of valid assertions refers to the honesty and believability of a communicator. includes a number of characteristics of a communicator might have (e.g. intellectual skills, personality properties, lifestyles) (Erdogan, 1999)

17. Definition of Trust Social psychologists define trust as an expectation about the behaviour of others in transactions. (Lewicki & Bunker, 1995)

18. Trust Disposition Is not situation specific, inclination to display faith in humanity and to adopt a trusting stance toward others ( McKnight et al., 1998 )

19. VI. Data Analysis I. Research Procedure II. Research Structure IV. Participant V. Instrument III. Research Hypotheses

20. Research Procedure Questionnaire design Data collection Questionnaire revision Data analysis Pilot study

21. Research Structure Source Credibility Expertness Trustworthiness Attractiveness Purchase Intention Trust

22. Research Hypotheses H1. Expertness would have positive effect on purchase intention. H2. Trustworthiness would have positive effect on purchase intention. H3. Attractiveness would have positive effect on purchase intention. H4. Effect of source credibility on purchase intention would be different based on consumers’ trust.

23. Participants Tourists in Guguan Time 15 minutes Quantity 30 (pre-test) 300 (formal study) Age 18-65

24. Guguan Location Heping Township of Taichung County Altitude 800 meters Found 1907 Average degree Celsius 48 degrees Celsius Hotels 13

25. Instrument 1 strongly disagree 5 strongly agree Questionnaire (31 items) 5 points Likert scale Part 1 (13) Source Credibility (Ohanian, 1990; Swartz, 1984; Wu, 2009) Part 2 (4) Trust ( Gefen, 2000 ) Part 3 (8) Consumer purchase behavior (Swinyard, 1993) Part 4 Personal information

26. Part 1. Source Credibility Expertness Trustworthiness Attractiveness

27. Part 2. Trust

28. Part 3. Consumer purchase behavior

29. Part 4. Personal information

30. SPSS 13.0 for windows Descriptive statistics analysis To know the distribution of participants personal information Pearson Correlation To examine the relationships between the variables (can not test cause and effect) Regression Analysis To examine the causal effect between variables