Information usefulness in online third party forums

This study investigates the effects of consumer and expert eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) information on information usefulness perception of information readers in third party forums. Extending existing studies on eWOM, our research model contends that sense of belonging plays moderating roles on eWOM information. Online survey instrument was used to collect data from two third party forums in China. The results show that the attributes of both consumer and expert eWOM information serve as important antecedents to affect information usefulness perception. Additionally, sense of belonging assumes an important role to influence the antecedents’ effects on information usefulness.