Impact of Quantity and Timeliness of E-WOM Information on Consumer’s Online Purchase Intention Under C2c Environment

Based on consumers’ “cognitive→affective→behavior” hierarchy theory of reaction, this paper builds the relational model of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) information (from two dimensions, quantity and timeliness), consumer trust, and purchase intention under C2C environment. The 2×2×2 between-subjects experiment on 320 undergraduates in Southwestern University of Finance and Economics illustrates that quantity and timeliness of eWOM information have significant influences on consumer trust, which has significantly positive influence on purchase intention; and the effect of the quantity and timeliness of eWOM information on consumer trust is also affected by the difference of product category. When buying fashion product (such as fashionable dress), the influence of quantity and timeliness of eWOM information on consumer trust is greater than that on functional products (such as books).