| dc.description.abstract |
This paper examines the impact of electronic word of mouth on consumers in the Albanian
emerging e-commerce market. While global markets are accepting electronic word of mouth
as an umbrella term for acts of purchasing behavior, Albanian consumers are still at
transitional phases, with personal trust being offset by increasing exposure to digital
platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google Reviews, and TripAdvisor. A mixed-methods
design, combining quantitative survey investigations (N = 303) alongside qualitative
thematic analyses of reviews, seeks to inquire into Albanian consumers' judgments
surrounding the trustworthiness, credibility, and authenticity of online reviews. Theories of
social influence, the Information Adoption Model, and Frustration-Aggression Theory are
used within the investigated setting, so culturally traumatized with collectivism, low
institutional trust, and poor digital infrastructure, to illuminate eWOM adoption behaviors.
The results divulge that Albanian consumers give importance to peer networks, local
influencers, and multimedia-enriched reviews rather than anonymous content or algorithm
rankings. Furthermore, positive eWOM dominates negative eWOM when building trust and
purchase intention, although suspicion about fake reviews is very much alive. The study
infers much-needed insights from the scarcely studied literature on digital consumer
behavior in the relatively less-studied Balkan economy. It gives practical considerations for
SMEs seeking to create online reputations via culturally sensitive eWOM strategies. |
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