An empirical investigation of electronic Word-of-Mouth on cross-border online platforms, a seminar by Dr Mai Kikumori and Dr Ryuta Ishii (Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan)

An empirical investigation of electronic Word-of-Mouth on cross-border online platforms

Abstract

With the expansion of digital marketplaces like Alibaba, international exporters increasingly depend on online reviews from foreign buyers to attract new business and establish financial sustainability. However, the impact of these electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) signals - especially the dispersion and variability in star ratings - remains poorly understood in an international context.

This seminar presents an ongoing empirical study exploring how the spread of online reviews affects foreign importers’ perceptions and decisions about potential exporter partners. Drawing on signaling theory, the research examines the direct effect of review consistency on importer trust and business initiation intentions, and also how these effects are moderated by the importer’s risk-taking orientation and the “psychic distance” between trading countries. Currently, interviews have been conducted with Japanese managers, and the development of an online experimental design is in progress.

About the speakers

Dr Mai Kikumori is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the College of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University, Japan. Her primary research areas involve consumer behavior, digital marketing, B2B marketing, and the effects of electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Kikumori won an award at the International Marketing Trends Conference in Paris for her work on the impacts of eWOM on consumer product and brand evaluation. Her research addresses how consumers interpret complex mixtures of positive and negative eWOM.

Dr Ryuta Ishii is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the College of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan. He holds PhD degree from Keio University, specializing in marketing. Ishii’s research interests include international marketing, business-to-business relationships, and export marketing, with his work published in leading journals such as Industrial Marketing Management and International Marketing Review.