The effects of eWOM on companies : A qualitative study about how companies get affected by the eWOW spread by consumers

Sammanfattning: Abstract The rapid technological developments have changed how companies market themselves and how consumers search for information. Furthermore, the internet provides companies with a variety of channels to share information and products. For a long time, “word of mouth” which consumers recommend via mouth-to-mouth, has been one of the most effective marketing techniques. According to studies, the effect of positive and negative electronic Word of Mouth on consumers differs, with negative electronic Word of Mouth having a greater impact on consumers. Positive electronic word-of-mouth can be beneficial for companies whereas negative can be detrimental. This thesis investigates what companies should do to continue spreading positive eWOM and reduce the negative eWOM. Further, this thesis aims to investigate how the positive and negative eWOM affects a company and what their current strategy is so that a recommended strategy can be built for the companies.  Thus, a qualitative study of six SME companies was designed to understand how eWOM affects companies and how they can reduce the effect of negative eWOM. The data was gathered through online semi-structured interviews, and the findings indicate that companies are affected differently by eWOM due to whether it is a product-based or service-based company. According to the study, two components that all companies lacked were resources and time. Companies should be more visible, have weekly marketing meetings, and a platform for reviews, according to the new strategy. Keywords: electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), Social networks sites (SNS), Valence, Online reviews, impact, and consequences of eWOM