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Positive vs. Negative e-Sentiment and the Market Performance of High-Tech Products

Despite the spectacular growth in online information dissemination, little is known about how consumers’ sentiments that are shared online, often referred to as ‘e-sentiment,’ influence products’ market performance. In this study, we track online buzz in the DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera market and analyze its impact on brand sales via econometric modeling. A priori, we expect that negative e-sentiment will have a stronger impact on products’ market performance than positive e-sentiment. Furthermore, we expect that these e-sentiment effects will be moderated by customers’ expectations levels: negative (positive) online buzz may have a stronger adverse (beneficial) impact for higher-priced (lower-priced) products. In addition, we expect that the impact of advertising will also be moderated by customers’ expectations levels, similar to that of positive online buzz which conveys favorable information about a product. The econometric results largely support our hypotheses. Managerial implications are discussed.