3.4. Perceptual affinity
Brown and Reingen (1987) recommend incorporating measures of
attitudinal/lifestyle similarity between the source and the target in
studies of WOM communications. Following this suggestion, we
consider the role of perceptual affinity, also referred to as “perceptual
homophily” (Gilly et al., 1998;Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 1993), a construct
related to—but conceptually distinct from—tie strength. Perceptual
affinity is defined as similarities between two people's values, likes,
dislikes, and experience
When someone receives an e-mail and considers opening it before
knowing the subject of the message, the decision to open and read
cannot relate to message content (unknown) but only to the
relationship with the source. At this early stage of the decisionmaking
process, the congruence of likes and dislikes between sender
and source is likely to be less important than the presence of a trustbased
relationship, especially in today's cluttered environment.
Once opened and read, a WOM communication originating from a
source with similar likes and dislikes will likely generate more interest
than one from a source with dissimilar tastes. The fact that the source
and the recipient have similar tastes should serve as a cue for the latter
that the product or service in question may also be of interest to the
former.
Notice that awareness and interest are conceptual (i.e., mental)
stages that may not perfectly translate into separate, observable
actions. For instance, if the subject of the e-mail is clear and
informative, awareness and interest may occur concurrently3 (Van
den Bulte & Lilien, 2003).
In the final stage of the decision-making process, congruence of
likes and dislikes with the sender should not affect the recipient's
assessment of the offer's costs or benefits, andwe therefore should not
find any evidence of an effect of perceptual affinity on the final
decision. This assertion is in line with the finding of Reingen et al.
(1984) that, while the interpersonal similarity hypothesis cannot be
entirely discounted, it appears to have very little explanatory power