Özet:

The inherent fears about the credibility of digital media, stemming from the fact that there are few standards of quality control, exacerbate potential problems regarding the reliability of electronic word of mouth (eWOM). The primary objective for this study was to investigate the influence of credibility heuristics when applied during the evaluation of eWOM communication about music content generated by microbloggers. A mono-quantitative research strategy was applied, whereby, hypotheses testing was consummated from a cross-sectional sample of 485 participants (microbloggers) based in five major towns of the southern Gauteng region in South Africa. A paper and pencil-based questionnaire was administered. Six factors were drawn by applying an exploratory factor analysis procedure. Mono-method bias was checked and the reliability and validity of the study were confirmed. The hypotheses testing comprised the estimation of a multiple regression model. The findings established the predictive power of four heuristics that pose a statistically significant influence on consumers’ evaluation of eWOM credibility. The findings point to the import in applying information heuristics in evaluating microblog reviews about music, a low-involvement product. The findings could assist both microblog administrators and marketing communication practitioners to better design the platforms to facilitate reader credibility evaluations regarding a broader product portfolio.

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