Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management
Year : 2012, Volume : 2, Issue : 5
First page : ( 274) Last page : ( 300)
Online ISSN : 2249-7307.

Online Public Relations: Source Credibility in the Product Review Blogosphere

Ghazisaeedi Mehdi

Division of Industrial Marketing, e-Commerce and Logistics, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden.

Online published on 11 May, 2012.

Abstract

Since the start of the new millennium blogs have existed but they are not yet considered as a standard public relations tool. However, obviously in recent years public relations professionals have realised that the blogging phenomena have shifted from personal self-expression websites to strong word-of-mouth communication channels. Literature shows that public relations practitioners are not actually taking full advantage of the potential of the blogs or they hesitate to employ them in their communications strategies; most probably because they are still contemplating to what extent blog readers perceive blogs as a credible source. To shed some light on this uncertainty, from a public relations perspective this paper principally focuses on validating a source credibility scale that was taken from the traditional concept of source credibility. A survey measuring online consumers’ perception of the source credibility of product review blogs among 169 Australians confirmed the validity of the scale in the blogging context. The results show that the source credibility of blogs is unrelated to both gender and level of education, but it appears that younger individuals have more faith in product review blogs as a credible source. The findings suggest that consumers’ level of blog usage have an influence on how they perceive product review blogs as a credible source. This article discusses some managerial implications for Public Relations Professionals and suggests future research possibilities.

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Keywords

Source Credibility, Blogging, Product Review Blogs, Online Public Relations.

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