Chapter IV Data Analysis
4.2 Factor Analysis and Reliability Analysis
To exchange information 363 60.1
To exchange opinion 52 8.6
4.2 Factor Analysis and Reliability Analysis
In the second section, questions 13 to 23 are asked about consumer’s behavior on searching beauty-related information. From the descriptive analysis, it is observed that the mean of question 20 is 3.13 (SD=1.07), indicating the overall attitude toward “The
impression/number of clicks of beauty blogs will influence my willingness to read” is quite neutral. Therefore, question 20 was excluded. The rest of data was subjected to Factor analysis that applied Principle Axis Factoring extraction method and Promax Rotation method. A two -factor solution for 10 items was deemed appropriate.
Factor 1 (Eigenvalue = 4.22) was labeled “Beauty-related Information Collecting”
and accounted for 42.20% of the total variance. Factor 2 (Eigenvalue = 1.77) was labeled
“Willingness to Read” and accounted for 17.71% of the total variance. Table 4-3 shown below contains the 10 items and their corresponding factor loadings. The reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) of two factors are respectively .82, and .88.
Table 4-3. Factor Analysis: Consumer Behavior on Searching Beauty-related Information
# of items Reliability
(Cronbach’s α) Items
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Extraction Method: Principle Axis Factoring.
Rotation Method: Promax with Kaiser Normalization.
Loadings are greater than .50, Eigenvalues > 1
Level of Content Satisfaction
In Section 3, 10 questions were asked to observe readers’ general level of satisfaction toward the content of beauty blogs. 575 samples are valid among the total of 604 samples.
The content satisfaction refers to readers’ general level of satisfaction toward the content of beauty blogs by measuring 10 items using 5-point Likert scale. With Strongly disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as “4”, and strongly Agree as “5”, 10 items are as follows: (1) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is interesting; (2) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is frequently updated; (3) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is abundant; (4) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is correct; (5) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is credible; (6) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is interactive; (7) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is true; (8) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is immediate; (9) Generally speaking, the content of beauty blogs is close to my life; (10) Generally speaking,
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the content of beauty blogs is influential. An additive index “Level of Content Satisfaction”
from these 10 items was created with Cronbach’s alpha=0.85 (M=3.65, SD=.49).
Section 4, 5 and 6 paid closer attentions to readers’ attitudes toward three different types of blog post—(1) Pure Sharing Blog Post (PSBP), which is the non-commercial content that is not operation of buzz marketing; (2)Sample Trial Blog Post (STBP), which involves commercial content and is operationalized as explicit buzz marketing; (3)Product Placement Blog Post (PPBP), which involves commercial content and is operationalized as implicit buzz marketing. First, descriptive analysis was conducted on all items from these three sections. The mean scores of corresponding items were compared to provide with a general profile on readers’ attitudes on specific aspects, shown as Table 4-4.
Table 4-4. Mean Scores of Readers’ Attitudes toward PSBP, STBP, and PPBP.
Pure
Positive WOM increase purchase intention 3.80 3.34 2.88 Interested in negative WOM 3.84 3.75 3.31
Negative WOM is credible 3.73 3.63 3.21
Negative WOM is true 3.66 3.61 3.20
Negative WOM can be reference 3.93 3.80 3.33
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Negative WOM is objective 3.38 3.45 3.05
Negative WOM is commercial 2.91 3.16 3.18
Negative WOM decrease purchase intention 4.00 3.86 3.55
For a clearer comparison, mean scores are put into a horizontal bar graph (Figure 4-1).
Figure 4-1. Horizontal Bar Graph on Readers’ Attitudes toward PSBP, STBP, and PPBP.
Negative WOM decrease purchase intention Negative WOM is commercial
Negative WOM is objective Negative WOM can be reference Negative WOM is true Negative WOM is credible Interested in negative WOM Positive WOM increase purchase intention Positive WOM is commercial Positive WOM is objective Positive WOM can be reference
Positive WOM is true Positive WOM is credible Interested in positive WOM
0 1 2 3 4 5
Mean Score
Pure Sharing Blog Post Sample-trial Blog Post Product Placement Blog Post
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With regard to positive WOM, readers show much agreement on the statement that WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post arouse their interest, rather than the other two types of blog posts. In general, readers agree the most on Pure Sharing Blog Post being more credible, true, worthwhile to be reference, objective, as well as increasing purchase intention while readers also appear tendency to agree on the above statements in Sample Trial Blog Post. As to Product Placement Blog Post, readers show more disagreement on its credibility and
recognize those posts to be the most commercial. It was also indicated that positive WOM in Product Placement Blog Post has the lowest influence on consumers’ purchase intention.
However, it is evident that generally, despite different types of blog post, readers consider negative WOM relatively more credible, truer, more worthy as a reference, more objective, less commercial than its positive counterpart. Readers also agree more on the statement that negative WOM may decrease their purchase intention than positive WOM may increase their purchase intention. This is consistent with previous literature on negative WOM may have more influence than positive WOM on consumers’ decision making and purchasing behavior.
In addition, for the purpose of observing readers’ attitudes toward two kinds of buzz marketing, explicit and implicit, participants were asked on their level of agreement on Sample Trial Blog Post (explicit buzz marketing) and Product Placement Blog Post (implicit buzz marketing). It is found that on being notified, readers will have relatively higher
acceptance on buzz marketing (Sample Trial Blog Post, M=3.48) while the implicit buzz marketing will cause lower agreement (Product Placement Blog Post, M=2.37).
WOM Credibility of Pure Sharing Blog Post was measured with eight items on 5 point Likert scale with Strongly Disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as “4”, and strongly Agree as “5”: (1) I think the positive WOM in Pure Sharing Blog
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Post is credible, (2) I think the positive WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post is true, (3) I think the positive WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post can be valuable reference, (4) I think the positive WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post is objective. (5) I think the negative WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post is credible, (6) I think the negative WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post is true, (7) I think the negative WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post can be valuable reference, (8) I think the negative WOM in Pure Sharing Blog Post is objective. 586 out of a total of 604 samples are valid; with Cronbach’s alpha= .85, an additive index from these eight items are created and treated as the index of WOM Credibility in PSBP (M=3.56, SD=.50).
WOM Credibility of Sample Trial Blog Post was measured with eight items on 5 point Likert scale with Strongly Disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as
“4”, and strongly Agree as “5”: (1) I think the positive WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post is credible, (2) I think the positive WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post is true, (3) I think the positive WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post can be valuable reference, (4) I think the positive WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post is objective. (5) I think the negative WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post is credible, (6) I think the negative WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post is true, (7) I think the negative WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post can be valuable reference, (8) I think the negative WOM in Sample Trial Blog Post is objective. 580 out of a total of 604 samples are valid; with Cronbach’s alpha= .82, an additive index from these eight items are created and treated as the index of WOM Credibility of STBP (M=3.42, SD=.51).
WOM Credibility of Product Placement Blog Post was measured with eight items on 5 point Likert scale with Strongly Disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as “4”, and strongly Agree as “5”: (1) I think the positive WOM in Product Placement Blog Post is credible, (2) I think the positive WOM in Product Placement Blog Post is true, (3) I think the positive WOM in Product Placement Blog Post can be valuable reference, (4) I
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think the positive WOM in Product Placement Blog Post is objective. (5) I think the negative WOM in Product Placement Blog Post is credible, (6) I think the negative WOM in Product Placement Blog Post is true, (7) I think the negative WOM in Product Placement Blog Post can be valuable reference, (8) I think the negative WOM in Product Placement Blog Post is objective. 564 out of a total of 604 samples are valid; with Cronbach’s alpha= .88, an additive index from these eight items are created and treated as the index of WOM Credibility of PPBP (M=2.92, SD=.64).
In section 7 and 8, two different platforms for consumer-generated content— PTT Cosmetics Board and FashionGuide Sample Trial Report—were proposed to serve two purposes: to observe readers/consumers’ attitudes toward WOM on different platforms, as well as to test the hypothesis that assumes the level of WOM Credibility will appear
consistent between commercial platform (FashionGuide Sample-trial Report) and blog posts that are operated under buzz marketing (Sample Trial Blog Post and Product Placement Blog Post).PTT Cosmetic Board as noncommercial platform share similar traits with Pure Sharing Blog Post. On the other hand, FashionGuide as a more commercial platform will perform like Sample Trial Blog Post and Product Placement Blog Post under the operation of buzz
marketing. The level of WOM Credibility will appear consistent between commercial platform (FashionGuide Sample-trial Report) and blog posts that are operated under buzz marketing (Sample Trial Blog Post and Product Placement Blog Post).
WOM Credibility of FashionGuide(FG) Sample-trial Report was measured with four items on 5 point Likert scale with Strongly Disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as “4”, and strongly Agree as “5”: (1) I think the WOM in FashionGuide Sample-trial Report is credible, (2) I think the WOM in FashionGuide Sample-trial Report is true, (3) I think the WOM in FashionGuide Sample-trial Report can be valuable reference, (4)
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I think the WOM in FashionGuide Sample-trial Report is objective. Among 604 participants, 214 have read the FashionGuide Sample-trial Report. With Cronbach’s alpha=.76, an additive index from these four items are created and treated as the index of WOM credibility in FG (M=3.48, SD=.52).
WOM Credibility of PTT Cosmetics Board was measured with four items on 5 point Likert scale with Strongly Disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as
“4”, and strongly Agree as “5”: (1) I think the WOM in PTT Cosmetics Board is credible, (2) I think the WOM in PTT Cosmetics Board is true, (3) I think the WOM in PTT Cosmetics Board can be valuable reference, (4) I think the WOM in PTT Cosmetics Board is objective.
Among 604 participants, 413 have read the Cosmetics Board on PTT. Compared with FG Sample Trial Report, of which only 1/3 of participants have read it, PTT Cosmetics Board reaches 2/3 of readership among all participants. It is evident that PTT Cosmetics Board has more popularity among most blog readers. With Cronbach’s alpha= .88, an additive index from these four items were created and treated as the index of WOM credibility in PTT Cosmetics Board (M=4.00, SD=.60).
Section 9 was composed of questions concerning consumer decision-making and information-sharing behavior. From the result of descriptive analysis, it is found that 79.8%
of participants would read beauty blogs upon friends’ recommendation, while 58.5% would recommend to friends (with 24.7% rating neutral and 15.4% shows disagreement). On comment-leaving, 80.3% indicated they never or seldom leave comments on beauty blogs while 16.7% indicates they sometimes do. Only 2.9% indicated they always or quite often leave comments on other beauty blogs. On viewing comments on beauty blogs, the most rated falls in “sometimes,” accounting for 39.1%. 40% of the participants indicate they never or seldom do. One fifth of the participants indicated that they always or quite often view
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people’s comments on beauty blogs (20.2%). Only 24.6% of the participants would post testimonials or post-purchase evaluation on their own blogs. 85% of the participants would make recommendation to others if the product or service they use is good.
On asked if they have ever trackbacked or forwarded beauty blog posts to their own blog, 88.2% answered “no”. On asked if they have ever tracked or forwarded beauty blog posts to other platforms, 79.8% answered “no”. The percentages shown indicate most participants do not trackback nor forward beauty blog posts to any other platforms. Among those who have trackbacked or forwarded to other platforms, specification of the platforms were required and multiple choices were allowed. The most commonly selected platforms include social network such as Facebook, online discussion forum such as Fashionguide and UrCosme, BBS such as PTT, and microblogging platform Plurk; few indicated other
platforms such as PTT2, 104beaty, youtube, Pixnet, and iswii.
As to the examination of whether readers would link to other blogs through blogrolls as well as to other websites/webpages through blog Ads, 80.5% indicated they have linked to other blogs through blogrolls, and 52.8% indicated they never clicked on the Ads that link to other websites/webpages. This implies blogrolls do help bridging different blogs, reinforcing the blog networking and transportation of information in blogosphere. Moreover, blog Ads may attract half of the blog users’ attention.
The influence of beauty blogs on generating interest in products, services or brands among readers was highly recognized by 87% of the participants. Yet the percentage lowers slightly when it comes to influencing real purchasing behavior—78.9% agreed that they have made purchase due to the influence of WOM in beauty blogs. The means of WOM
Credibility of Pure Sharing Blog Post, WOM Credibility of Sample Trial Blog Post, WOM Credibility of Product Placement Blog Post, WOM Credibility of FashionGuide Sample-trial
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Report from, WOM Credibility of PTT Cosmetics Board are compared to verify researcher’s assumptions—that the level of WOM Credibility will appear consistent between
non-commercial platform (PTT Cosmetics Board) and Pure Sharing Blog Post.
WOM Referral was measured with two items on 5 point Likert scale with Strongly Disagree coded as “1”, Disagree as “2”, Neutral as “3”, Agree as “4”, and strongly Agree as
“5” . Correlation analysis was conducted on “I recommend beauty blogs to friends” and
“Generally speaking, I will recommend my friends to use the products or services that I have good evaluation” (Table 4-5). Significance was found between this two items; thus this two items are put together to generate new index for WOM Referral (r=.40, p<.001).
Table 4-5. Correlation Analysis of Q94 and Q98
Generally speaking, I will
recommend my friends to use the products or services that I have good evaluation.
I recommend beauty blogs to friends.
Pearson Correlation .400**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 582
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*p <.05; **p <.01, ***P<.001
In Table 4-6, all Cronbach’s alphas in this study are listed to examine the reliability.
Except WOM Credibility of FashionGuide Sample Trial Report, all the other seven indexes reached higher than .80.
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Table 4-6. Cronbach’s Alpha Scores in this Study
Index Cronbach’s alpha
Beauty-related Information Collecting .82
Willingness to Read .88
Level of Content Satisfaction .85
WOM Credibility of Pure Sharing Blog Post .85
WOM Credibility of Sample Trial Blog Post .82
WOM Credibility of Product Placement Blog Post .88
WOM Credibility of FashionGuide(FG) Sample Trial Report .76
WOM Credibility of PTT Cosmetics Board .88
Note: Cronbach’s alpha scores are greater than .70