Artificial Intelligence in eWOM: Roles, Mechanisms, and an Integrative Framework

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing electronic word-of-mouth by participating directly in the production, revision, circulation, evaluation, and governance of consumer information. This systematic literature review synthesizes 71 peer-reviewed studies on how AI functions within electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), how consumers respond to those roles, and when those effects vary. Using SPAR-4-SLR and PRISMA 2020 procedures, the review draws on database, supplemental, and citation-based searches. It identifies five recurring AI roles -- Creator, Co-Creator, Curator, Intermediary, and Regulator -- and shows that their effects depend largely on perceptions of authenticity, credibility, usefulness, humanness, transparency, and manipulation risk. These effects are context dependent, varying across products, tasks, message formats, consumer orientations toward AI, levels of AI involvement, and platform environments. The review also argues that AI reshapes not only how eWOM is presented, but also what consumers are likely to contribute afterward. Building on these findings, the review proposes an AI-enabled lifecycle of Creation, Transformation, Transmission, Evaluation, and Governance and develops an AI-eWOM fit perspective. A TCCM-organized research agenda identifies priorities for future research.