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Purpose: This paper aims to examine desirable post-adoption outcomes related to food delivery apps using the involvement-commitment model (ICM) and the boundary of (Islamic) religiosity, which is an important facet of communities in many parts of the world today. Importantly, the study provides an in-depth understanding of the boundary role of religiosity in the links between involvement, commitment, resistance to negative information and advocacy intention in relation to food delivery app use. Design/methodology/approach: Data collected from 498 respondents in Saudi Arabia was used to test the research hypothesized model. Findings: The results from the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique lend credence to past research calling for the contextualization of theories, especially since this paper find religiosity to be an important boundary condition to the ICM in relation to food delivery apps in an Arab nation. Originality/value: This paper focuses specifically on the ICM and the boundary of (Islamic) religiosity. The cardinal contribution of this study, therefore, lies in the contextualization of ICM within the Arab world concerning post-adoption behavior related to food delivery apps. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is likely the first study to do so in the marketing, hospitality and technology-based literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Studies - Economics, Finance, Politics is the property of Electronic Turkish Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As brand equity (BE) is a valuable, but intangible, asset of any firm, understanding BE represents a primary task for many organizations. Factors that influence the development of BE are of inordinate academic and practical significance and a source of continuous investigation. While the current literature on social media communication (SMC) and BE provides a wealth of information, our study pioneers the most recent processes of mediation and moderation of electronic word-of-mouth and product involvement (PI) in BE research. Accordingly, the results of this work will likely become one of the key sources of information in sustainable marketing planning and in the development of strategies. To accomplish this goal, we assessed the structural relationships among SMC, electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), PI, and BE. A questionnaire survey was administered concerning consumer brands in China. In this survey, due to the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the questionnaire was distributed and collected via the internet. A total of 369 data sets were analyzed by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of our investigation reveal that: (a) social media firm- and user-generated content have a positive impact on e-WOM, (b) social media firm- and user-generated content have a positive impact on BE, (c) e-WOM has a positive impact on BE and serves as an intermediary role between SMC and BE, and (d) PI exerts specific moderating effects between SMC and BE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customers acquired through a referral program have been observed to exhibit higher margins and lower churn than customers acquired through other means. Theory suggests two likely mechanisms for this phenomenon: (1) better matching between referred customers and the firm and (2) social enrichment by the referrer. The present study is the first to provide evidence of these two mechanisms in a customer referral program. Consistent with the theory that better matching affects contribution margins, (1) referrer–referral dyads exhibit shared unobservables in customer contribution margins, (2) referrers with more extensive experience bring in higher-margin referrals, and (3) this association between the referrer’s experience and margin gap becomes smaller over the referral’s lifetime. Consistent with the theory that social enrichment affects retention, referrals exhibit lower churn only as long as their referrer has not churned. These findings indicate that better matching and social enrichment are two mechanisms through which firms can leverage their customers’ networks to gain new customers with higher customer lifetime value and convert social capital into economic capital. One recommendation for the managers of the firm studied is to recruit referrers among their customers who have been acquired at least six months ago, exhibit high margins, and are unlikely to churn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationships between customer perceptions of luxury companies' brand pages (i.e. brand page value and self-expressive brands) and customers' affective (i.e. brand page satisfaction and brand love) and behavioral (i.e. word-of-mouth [WOM] and attitudinal loyalty intentions) responses. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data of 290 social media users in the USA who followed at least one luxury brand on social media. Findings: The results demonstrated that consumers' brand page satisfaction, influenced by the brand page's information and entertainment value, was related to brand love and WOM intentions. Meanwhile, brand love – defined as emotional devotion to a brand – was influenced by self-expressive brands and was positively related to both WOM and attitudinal loyalty intentions. Originality/value: This study identifies a set of customer perceptions that drive consumers' affective and behavioral responses and that can be used to guide luxury brands to best use their brand pages on social media. By developing and testing a dual-impact model consisting of brand page satisfaction and brand love, this study provides practical directions for luxury brand managers and marketers who wish to transform their followers into both brand advocates who elevate the brand through WOM communications and loyal customers who are committed to affiliating with and supporting the brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Marketer-generated value-laden social media digital content marketing (VSM-DCM) relates to content that is neither too "pushy" nor too "pully." On the foundation of media engagement, motivation- and attitude-based theories, this study rationalizes and investigates the mechanism that underlies the effect of VSM-DCM on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention. Design/methodology/approach: The authors devised a 2 (product type: search vs. experience) × 3 (VSM-DCM: utilitarian vs. hedonic vs. utilitarian + hedonic) between-subject design (N = 360) after three pre-tests (N = 223). Findings: The authors show that VSM-DCM formats are effective in enhancing brand attitude and eWOM intention for different products. Specifically, market-generated VSM-DCM that simultaneously embeds utilitarian and hedonic values is the most effective for optimizing brand attitude and eWOM intention in both search and experience product contexts. The effect of VSM-DCM formats on eWOM intention is mediated by brand attitude, while product type (search vs. experience) moderates this indirect effect. Originality/value: This paper breaks new ground by highlighting the relevance of marketer-generated VSM-DCM in the DCM context and by illustrating the mechanism through which it leads to consumers' intention to engage in eWOM. In so doing, it contributes to the debate on DCM implementation and the contextual factors that moderate the optimization of DCM outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how word-of-mouth marketing campaign participants select communication partners, content and channel. Rules Theory, which we adopt from the interpersonal communication literature, indicates that socially constructed contextual rules explain participants’ choices. Our analysis suggests that campaign participants are sensitive to the socially constructed contexts within which interaction takes place and adjust their communication choices accordingly. We identify four contexts that account for variance in participants’ choices: episode, relationship, life-script and family narrative. We show that specific communication choices may be obligated, legitimated or prohibited dependent on the activated context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To address the problem of large network size and the difficulty of obtaining accurate information, the local average field was used to describe the large-scale customer network. Then an optimization model was developed to determine the proportion of seed consumers with the consideration of word-of-mouth (WOM) diffusion. The existence of the optimal solution was proved. The effects of customer connectivity, diffusion probability, marketing cost, and seed customer's purchase intention were analyzed by simulation on the decision of WOM marketing and market outcomes. The study shows that firms need to control the extent of WOM marketing when the probability of its influence is extremely high and low because over-marketing can bring more market share but can also damage profitability. In social e-commerce, "sold at a loss" only works when WOM propagates efficiently within the consumers networks. There is an intrinsic match between marketing products and the consumers networks with specific property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In spite of the increasing organic and interactive marketing activities over social media, a general understanding of the source credibility of voluntary user-generated content (UGC) is still limited. In line with the social identity theory, this paper examines the effects of consumers' perceived source credibility of UGC in YouTube videos on their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, source homophily theory is included to predict the antecedent of source credibility. Design/methodology/approach: Three hundred and seventy two Generation Y respondents were interviewed using snowball sampling. Data were analyzed with component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: Findings confirmed that perceived source credibility indirectly affects purchase intention (PI) and electronic word-of-mouth via attitude toward UGC. Besides, perceived source credibility mediates the effect of perceived source homophily on attitude toward UGC. Practical implications: Since today's consumers have begun to trust and rely more on UGC than company-generated content on social media when making purchase decisions, companies may reconsider democratizing certain aspects of their branding strategies. Firms may fine-tune their marketing communication budgets – not only just by sponsoring public figures and celebrities but also by nurturing coproductive engagements with independent content creators who are ordinary consumers. Endowed with their imposing credibility, these micro-influencers and prosumers have high potentials to be uplifted to brand ambassadors. Originality/value: While consumers' purchase outcome can be measured easily using metrics and analytics, the roles of source homophily in stages leading up to the purchase is still elusive. Drawing on the rich theoretical basis of source homophily may help researchers to understand not only how credibility and attitude are related to PI but also how this nexus generates positive word of mouth among UGC followers within the social media circles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overlapping effect originates from an extension of Mendel's law in genetics, where one of the interactions between non-alleles is called additive effect. It is more applied in studies on overlapping brand niches in marketing today, with relatively few researches on continuous customer value creation characterised by user adhesion and need matching. Based on the need matching and user adhesion that are features of the mobile Internet era, this article proposes a model for continuous customer value creation based on overlapping marketing. According to grounded theory, this article extracts three types of factors—demand effect, user effect, and overlapping marketing—that affect continuous customer value creation in the smart terminal business. From the perspective of service perception, this research explores how overlapping marketing affects product requirement matching and user adhesion based on a survey of 491 participants, and validates the theoretical model and hypotheses. It is found that overlapping marketing can effectively enhance need matching, improve user adhesion and increase customer value. This research not only addresses the confusion regarding need matching and user adhesion in the communications market, but also reveals how the smart terminal business affects continuous customer value creation in the era of the mobile Internet through overlapping marketing, combined with need matching and user adhesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many online review sites, such as TripAdivisor.com, encourage review posters to upload a profile photo to improve the perceived reliability of online reviews. This study aims to examine the roles of reviewer profile photos in the online review generation and consumption processes. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected via Amazon MTurk. Two experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 had a sample size of 106 respondents. In Study 1, this paper examined the role of a reviewer profile photo in the online review generation process. Study 2 had a sample size of 482 respondents. In Study 2, this paper examined the role of a reviewer profile photo in the online review consumption process under two different circumstances, namely, comprehensive and incomprehensive review text. Findings: The findings show that reviewer profile photos play different roles when consumers generate online reviews versus when they consume reviews. In the review generation process, reviewers are more likely to upload a profile photo to improve the credibility of their reviews. On the other hand, in the review consumption process, reviewer profile photos do not contribute to an increase in the perceived review helpfulness. Originality/value: If the readers have difficulty processing the review content, review profile photos play a critical role in determining perceived review helpfulness. This study provides both theoretical and managerial implications by indicating how reviewer profile photos play different roles in online review posting and consuming behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularity of social media, firms are prone to relying on the existing customers' social contacts to acquire new customers. Referral reward programs (RRPs) have become one of the most effective methods. We highlight social motives for customer referrals and assume that the customer can obtain both firm-offered rewards and psychological intangible rewards named social value from his successful referral. Then we explore the impact of social value on firms' optimal referral reward structure by comparing the equilibriums of two nested Stackelberg games among a firm, a sender (existing customer), and a receiver (new customer). One of the games ignores the sender's social value, while the other one considers the impact of the sender's social value. Firstly, we give the applicable conditions for using RRPs, and show that the sender's social value helps the firm avoid excessive rewards by sharing the rewards burden. We also find that the firm's optimal reward structure shifts away from rewarding the sender toward rewarding the receiver or forsaking the reward programs when the firm takes the sender's social value into account. Considering the conditions under which the firm should use reward programs, the optimal reward structure is closely related to the tie-strength between the two customers. Concretely, when the tie-strength is weak, the firm tends to reward the sender more; conversely, the firm tends to reward the receiver more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find out the antecedents of customer brand advocacy (CBA) on the basis of synthesis of the CBA literature. A summarisation of the results of the empirical CBA studies containing CBA as a measured variable is carried out. The antecedents' strengths of association with CBA are compared. Design/methodology/approach: The literature is synthesised using the technique of meta-analysis (Hedges and Olkin, 1985). A total of 63 empirical research papers containing 66 data sets, published between 1988 and 2019, are analysed. For each antecedent – CBA relationship, the statistics calculated include point estimate of the reliability adjusted correlation coefficient (ρ), 95% confidence interval of the computed effect size, Cochran's Q statistic and fail safe-N. The effect of study context as a possible moderator is assessed. Findings: The major antecedents of CBA, identified in the study, are categorised into personal factor (opinion leadership), relational factors (brand trust, customer satisfaction, brand identification, customer-based brand equity, affective commitment and normative commitment) and social factor (normative influence). Significant heterogeneity was found across studies for the paired relationships, pointing towards the presence of theoretical and/or methodological moderators. Originality/value: The nascent CBA literature reports mixed findings. This creates confusion. This synthesis study contributes to the present body of knowledge of the concept of CBA. It is the only study that uses the technique of meta-analysis to the CBA literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors study the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing vehicles. Because social network sites record the electronic invitations from existing members, outbound WOM can be precisely tracked. Along with traditional marketing, WOM can then be linked to the number of new members subsequently joining the site (sign-ups). Because of the endogeneity among WOM, new sign-ups, and traditional marketing activity, the authors employ a vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling approach. Estimates from the VAR model show that WOM referrals have substantially longer carryover effects than traditional marketing actions and produce substantially higher response elasticities. Based on revenue from advertising impressions served to a new member, the monetary value of a WOM referral can be calculated; this yields an upper-bound estimate for the financial incentives the firm might offer to stimulate WOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information availability has increased consumers' informedness, the degree to which they know what is available in the marketplace, with precisely which attributes and at precisely what price. This informedness has altered the demand side of market behavior: customers now discount more heavily when comparable products are available from competitors and when products do not meet their wants, needs, cravings, and longings, but they no longer discount as heavily when purchasing unfamiliar products. Changes in the demand side are producing comparable changes in the supply side: firms earn less than their expectations when competing in traditional mass-market fat spots, while earning far more than previously when entering newly created resonance marketing sweet spots. We trace the impact of hyperdifferentiation and resonance marketing on strategy, with a clear progression from a limited number of fat spots, through reliance on line extensions, and ultimately to fully differentiated market sweet spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the effects of webcare content type and webcare source credibility on perceived fairness, in the presence of reputation of a reviewer as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach: The experiment used a 2 (Webcare content type: Specific vs Vague) × 2 (Webcare source credibility: High vs Low) × 2 (Reviewer reputation: Good vs Bad) between-subjects design. ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses. Findings: A significant main effect and interaction effect of independent variables was found on perceived fairness. The moderating role of reviewer reputation was also found significant in the relationship between content type and perceived fairness. However, reputation of the reviewer did not moderate the relationship between webcare source credibility and perceived fairness. Practical implications: Marketers should respond to negative reviews by paying attention toward review and webcare attributes highlighted in the paper because doing so might satisfy the consumer. Originality/value: This paper attempts to study a combination of webcare and review characteristics together on consumers' perceptions of fairness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Previous research suggests that self-presentation causes people to have a reflective tendency to produce electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Drawing on the theory of the reflective-impulsive model (RIM), this paper aims to examine whether self-presentation also could motivate an impulsive tendency to produce eWOM. Self-monitoring is suggested as a possible moderator in the relationship between self-presentation and impulsive eWOM production. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected based on an online survey of members from a consumer panel. The effective sample size was 574 respondents. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Findings: The findings show that self-presentation may drive both impulsive and reflective eWOM tendencies; however, that the relationship between self-presentation and impulsive eWOM tendency is contingent on high levels of self-monitoring. Originality/value: By including self-monitoring as a moderator, this study is the first to show a relationship between self-presentation and impulsive eWOM production. Moreover, the findings show that both impulsive and reflective eWOM tendencies are associated with an enhanced tendency to produce eWOM, thereby demonstrating the usefulness of the RIM theory in understanding eWOM behavior. Overall, the findings shed light on how companies may stimulate eWOM production, and consequently provide insight into creating more effective eWOM campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate a sharing economy context, where vacation rental units that are owned and operated by individuals throughout the world are rented out through a common website: vrbo.com. It is posited that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, a common indicator of the level of economic development of a nation, will impact the likelihood that prospective travelers will choose to book accommodations in the sharing economy channel (vs traditional hotels). The role of online customer reviews in this process is investigated as well, building upon a significant body of extant research which shows their level of customer decision influence. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical analysis is conducted using data from the website Vacation Rentals By Owner on 1,940 rental listings across 97 countries. Findings: GDP per capita serves as risk deterrent to prospective travelers, making the sharing economy an acceptable alternative to traditional hotels for the average traveler. It is also found that the total number of online customer reviews (OCR volume) is a signal of popularity to prospective travelers, while the average star rating of those online customer reviews (OCR valence) is instead a signal of accommodation quality. Originality/value: This study adds to a growing agenda of research investigating the effect of online customer reviews on consumer decisions, with a particularly focus on the burgeoning sharing economy. The findings help to explain when the sharing economy may serve as a stronger disruptive threat to incumbent offerings. It also provides the following key insights for managers: sharing economy rental units in developed nations are more successful in driving booking activity, managers should look to promote volume of online customer reviews and positive online customer reviews are particularly influential for sharing economy rental booking rates in less developed nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper examines the role that attitudes toward online product reviews (OPRs), perceived credibility of OPRs and perceived benefit of OPRs play as antecedents of consumers' reliance on OPRs in purchase decisions. A conceptual model of relationships investigated posits that attitudes drive reliance and are in turn driven by perceived benefit and credibility of OPRs. The study also examines gender differences in the constructs and their inter-relationships.Design/methodology/approach Data from a structured self-administered survey of US consumers are used to estimate parameters of a structural equation model (SEM) of the relationships. Gender differences in the structural relationships are tested using multi-group SEM, while gender differences in reliance, attitudes, benefit and credibility are tested using independent-samples t-tests.Findings Results show a strong positive effect of attitudes toward OPRs on reliance on OPRs. In turn, perceived benefit and credibility of OPRs are strong positive drivers of attitudes toward OPRs, with benefit having a greater impact. Structural relationships among the constructs are invariant across the two gender groups. However, there is a statistically significant difference between males and females in reliance on OPRs, with males exhibiting a tendency to rely more on OPRs than females.Originality/value The study introduces two new constructs to the literature – reliance on OPRs and global attitudes toward OPRs – and provides initial conceptualizations and operationalizations. The specific results underscore the relevance and importance of further research on these constructs and their relationships with other OPR-relevant constructs. They also provide initial indications of gender differences in consumers' perceptions of OPRs and relationships among these and reliance on OPRs that are worthy of additional research attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Management Research: The Journal of the IberoAmerican Academy of Management is the property of Emerald Publishing Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose This paper aims to develop a link between word-of-mouth and attribution of credit or blame following a purchase. Attribution is important because it can affect repurchase behavior, loyalty and word-of-mouth; therefore, understanding who receives credit or blame for a purchase outcome following a product recommendation is critical.Design/methodology/approach Through three studies, how recommendation context affects attribution of credit or blame to consumers, reviewers and retailers is experimentally examined. These studies test the thesis that context factors that are independent of the product recommendation can affect how consumers assign responsibility for the product’s performance.Findings Results demonstrate that while consumers trust online reviews, the addition of reviewer incentives diminish that trust, especially when a consumer identifies with the retailer. Findings show support for retailers using online reviews and provide evidence for using caution when incentivizing reviewers.Research limitations/implications This study makes a theoretical connection between word-of-mouth (reviews) and attribution. As this connection is not seen often in the literature, future research should look at the role the recommender plays in the purchasing process. This study forced participants to attribute a purchase success/failure to certain parties to find a baseline with which to begin. Future studies should look at this process as more spontaneous. It may not always occur or possibly only occur for certain types of purchases or experiences.Practical implications Retailers should be continuing to use online reviews as they provide protection from blame and an increase in credit for successful outcomes. This study also provides evidence that incorporating social media into online reviews as many sites have been doing may actually backfire. While it might be more helpful to the consumer, it can increase blame to the retailer. Reviewers are receiving incentives more frequently, and this study finds that loyal consumers should not be shown incentivized reviews as it heightens blame after a negative outcome.Social implications While attribution has been found to be an important part of the purchasing process, it has not been looked at in relationship to word-of-mouth/electronic word-of-mouth (offline/online reviews). Knowing that who recommends a product to us impacts post-purchase behavior is important, as online reviews are utilized more frequently. Many social media strategies have been implemented without information as to how the retailer themselves will be impacted. This study provides evidence of how to better utilize online reviews.Originality/value Though online reviews have been studied widely, less is known about how reviews and product recommendations affect attribution of credit or blame for a post-purchase outcome. The theoretical link between word-of-mouth and product outcome attribution provided here will help guide future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Social causes increasingly rely on omni-channel touchpoints involving personal discussions and grassroots digital marketing efforts to engage individuals via social referrals. This paper aims to examine digital natives’ perceived effectiveness of omni-channel touchpoints for increasing social cause engagement including social media, digital media, traditional and interpersonal communications, along with an individual’s social/digital media behaviors.Design/methodology/approach The paper reports empirical results from an online survey of 924 digital natives. The paper uses multivariate and multiple regression analyses to examine the differential effects of a diverse range of media influencing the perceived effectiveness of social cause referrals from a family member versus a close friend.Findings The results identify the combination of omni-channel touchpoints most likely to be effective for enhancing organ donation support and registration efforts as part of social referral campaigns. The findings suggest differences exist based on whether the campaign targets family members or friends.Research limitations/implications The research focuses on digital natives and does not address differences that may vary by specific messages shared across generational groups or ethnicities. More research is also necessary, which examines the effects of digital consumption versus content creation behaviors.Practical implications The paper includes implications for social marketers looking at increasing viral reach and engagement via social referral campaigns. Marketers should integrate the omni-channel touchpoints deemed to be most effective for each target based on specific campaign goals.Originality/value This paper addresses a gap in marketers’ understanding of how digital natives perceive social referral campaigns targeting their social circle via various omni-channel touchpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Using social cognitive theory as a theoretical backdrop, this paper aims to investigate antecedents and mediators of e-maven propensity and evaluates the transferability of physical market maven to online channel. A conceptual model capturing the links among information seeking tendency, physical market maven, e-shopping attitude and e-satisfaction as determinants of e-maven propensity is developed and tested.Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 199 adult consumers were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling with multi-group analysis.Findings The results show the direct and indirect effects of physical market maven on e-maven propensity. Additionally, the relationship between physical market maven and e-maven propensity is moderated by e-shopping intensity such that the relationship is stronger for the high e-shopping intensity group than for the low e-shopping intensity group.Practical implications In a multi-channel environment, being able to share marketplace information across different channels takes on greater significance. Developing a customized strategy in managing e-word-of-mouth and e-maven behaviors within the context of the level of consumers’ e-shopping intensity is needed. E-mavens could be invited not only to serve as co-creators but also as significant influencers for a company’s products and services.Originality/value The study draws an interesting parallel between physical mavens and their online characteristics, as well as captures the conditions under which transferability of physical maven behavior to online channel occurs. Two distinct patterns are exhibited depending on the level of e-shopping intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The aim of this study is to analyze the antecedents of word-of-mouth (WOM) in a social networking sites (SNS) context, based on social identification theory and uses and gratification theory. This general objective can be divided into two sub-objectives. First, to measure the relationship between social identity, altruism and perceived encouragement as antecedents of WOM in SNS. Second, to study the existence of SNS-user segments which have differentiated behaviors according to the proposed model.Design/methodology/approach Partial least squares (PLS) has been used to analyze both validity and reliability of the measurement scales and the estimation of the structural model. Next, the heterogeneity of SNS-users has been analyzed using the finite mixture segmentation FIMIX-PLS. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis (MGA-PLS) has been used to analyze the differences between the behaviors of the resulting segments.Findings The main conclusion of this study is that social identity and perceived encouragement are worthy predictors of WOM. Additionally, there is a strong relationship between social identity and perceived encouragement. Another significant consequence is the existence of a large quantity of unobserved heterogeneity. Unsociable users, habitual users and obligated users show different behaviors regarding the relationships between the variables of the proposed model.Originality value The results indicate that in general WOM communications transmitted by SNS-users are not motivated by altruism or by their willingness to help others. In addition, social identity and perceived encouragement are good predictors of WOM. Another originality of this research is that considering only one general model hides a large amount of unobserved heterogeneity: different segments of users showed diverse behaviors regarding the model’s variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to find out how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) may affect evaluations of products with different brand images. In particular, the study explores differential eWOM impacts across several brand types and extension categories.Design/methodology/approach An experiment with 2 (brand image: prestige/function) × 2 (category similarity: low/high) × 2 (eWOM message type: positive/negative) between-subjects design was used to examine the impacts of eWOM on different types of brand extensions. A total of 268 subjects from a public university in the Southwest participated in the study. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used in analyzing the data.Findings The findings highlight the differential impact of eWOM on brand extension evaluations with different brand images. First, eWOM is more effective in influencing evaluations of functional brand extensions than prestige brand extensions. Second, whereas negative eWOM does equally bad on both high- and low-similarity brand extensions, positive eWOM is more effective in improving evaluations of high-similarity extensions than low-similarity extensions.Originality/value This study is the first to examine the impact of eWOM on products with different brand images. This is a critical issue for brand managers who allocate limited marketing resources to monitoring and managing vast amounts of eWOM activities. The findings provide important guidance for managing social media marketing communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The paper seeks to establish the effectiveness of social media advertising and participation by brands through incidental exposure. Using experimental design, in a social media environment, this paper aims to extend incidental exposure research in the context of social media.Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an experimental design with controlled image durations using MediaLab and DirectRT, allowing for precise image display times and randomization of screens. Participants were split between high-involvement and low-involvement product categories, and the brand choice exercise was administered in an on-screen experiment.Findings The paper provides support that incidental exposure influences brand choice. Further, it indicates that for low-involvement product categories, the type of social media exposure does not influence brand choice significantly between types. For high-involvement product categories, ads perform better than sponsored story executions; consumer-generated brand messages perform better than brand-generated messages; and the influence of reference group affects brand choice.Research limitations/implications This paper tests one social media environment using a desktop Web environment. Additional studies would be needed to test other social media environments and mobile technology.Practical implications The paper provides evidence that brands benefit by simply participating and advertising in social media, but the execution style matters to a greater extent for high-involvement product categories in influencing brand choice.Social implications Mere exposure to a brand message may influence consumers unknowingly. Repeated exposure as short as 5 s per viewing is related to increases in brand choice.Originality/value This paper extends research on incidental exposure and establishes a key positive brand outcome for practice and research, and it provides the first exploration on the outcome of incident exposure to brand messages in social media. The results suggest that social media and advertising by brands have positive impacts beyond traditional measures of success online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate consumer characteristics (gender, subjective knowledge of product category, susceptibility to social influence, attitude to internet shopping and internet use) having a bearing on the proportion of online information searches conducted using personal and impersonal information sources, and to explore which of these factors impact the use of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM).Design/methodology/approach A real-time longitudinal design is used to survey 274 consumers about their information searches when shopping for high involvement goods.Findings Susceptibility to normative social influence and internet use prove the main drivers of the inclination to resort to the internet to conduct searches using personal information sources. Subjective knowledge also positively impacts the proportion of time spent online conducting searches using personal information sources. Men and consumers with a positive attitude to internet shopping use a greater proportion of impersonal online information sources. Complementary analyses show that the use of eWOM is driven by almost all consumer characteristics (except gender) investigated.Originality/value By using a real-time longitudinal approach, this study directly addresses calls for more research into information searches by investigating multi-channel source use in actual purchase situations and minimizing bias relating to forgotten information, while facilitating the collection of more valid data on consumer information search behaviour. The paper also ranks as one of the first to revisit the drivers of the proportion of online information sources in personal and impersonal sources in the era of Web 2.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Social shopping relies on word-of-mouth, with marketers turning to social shopping rewards (SSRs) to generate social buzz. According to US regulatory bodies, these types of rewards, if considered endorsements, must be disclosed. Yet, little is known about the impact of disclosure of SSRs. To address this gap, this study aims to examine the impact of disclosure of SSRs on consumer responses.Design/methodology/approach Respondents were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions via an online survey. The “no disclosure” condition featured a hypothetical friend’s tweet of a product (n = 91). The “disclosure” conditions featured the same tweet, either with the words “Sponsored Tweet” in a boxed tweet (n = 50) or with a hashtag “#Sponsored” (n = 48). All respondents completed a questionnaire designed to address the hypotheses.Findings No differences between the disclosure conditions were found, thus they were combined and compared to the non-disclosure condition. Of the 13 hypotheses, 9 were sustained by significant correlations. Disclosure to consumers that a product review was sponsored by a marketer strengthens the relationships between certain model constructs, i.e. between dual source credibility and attitude toward the message and between attitude toward the message and attitude toward the brand.Originality/value This study is the first to empirically test the impact of disclosure of SSRs on consumer responses in a social shopping context. Findings provide marketers and practitioners with a solution to complying with regulatory requirements in ways that do not hurt consumer responses to social buzz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate user perceptions of mobile app characteristics and interrelationships among identified mobile app characteristics, perceived benefits and post-adoption behaviors.Design/methodology/approach Using a self-administered online survey (n = 503) drawn from a consumer panel of US smartphone users, this study tests the proposed model that explains why stickiness and word of mouth (WOM) are enhanced during the post-adoption stage.Findings The results indicate that user perceptions of mobile app characteristics, perceived ubiquity, perceived informativeness and perceived personalization are positively associated with mobile app usefulness, thereby leading to increased stickiness and positive WOM intentions. Furthermore, perceived personalization is found to become the strongest predictor of usefulness and playful engagement with the mobile app.Research limitations/implications The findings are derived from a one-shot correlational study. There is no guarantee that the proposed model establishes causal directions among the latent constructs. Therefore, future research should test the conceptual model in an experimental setting by manipulating the degree and types of ubiquity, informativeness and personalization.Practical implications The findings of this research provide managerial guidelines for developing effective mobile app strategies involving utilitarian and hedonic benefits, thereby enhancing user stickiness and WOM intentions.Originality/value This paper is the first attempt to develop a conceptual framework that integrates user perceptions of mobile app characteristics into the underlying process of post-adoption behaviors. It empirically demonstrates the importance of ubiquity, informativeness and personalization in building and sustaining loyal relationships with mobile app users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undermining the effectiveness of traditional marketing communication tools leads companies to seek alternative ways to reach customers. Increasingly, consumers appear to lack confidence in advertising content; therefore there is less reliability in the advertising message. When looking for the best available deals in the market, the consumer is interested in other consumers' opinions and their experiences formulated in the process of word-of-mouth communication. The tendency to follow recommendations may depend on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, and above all on the level of satisfaction with the product or service. The involvement of the consumer is defined as the part of the product that people attribute to it, based on their internal needs, values and interests. Currently there is a wave of discussion about the significant value of acustomer's involvement from the point of view of an organization. The involved consumer is usually more motivated to pay attention to information about the product; however, the question arises whether the involvement in a given product category affects the proclivity to recommendations. The purpose of this article is to answer the above-mentioned research question based on the analysis of 15 product categories using the results of the CAWI survey, including a representative group of 1000 Poles aged 15-50. Involvement is understood as the degree of consumer interest in a particular product category when making a purchasing decision. For the measurement of the consumer involvement modified PDI scale (Purchase Decision Involvement, Mittal 1989/1995) in the context of 15 different product categories (starting from pure product, through hybrids, to pure service) will be used. Mittal's scale will be modified by adding two additional questions to measure knowledge of the product category and tendency to use other people's opinions (experts or peers). The project was funded by the National Science Centre on the basis of the decision DEC-2012/07/D/HS4/01761. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dilemma that is based on a decision to disclose or not to disclose social shopping rewards (SSRs), in an effort to enhance the effectiveness of social shopping. To protect consumers and guide marketers, emergent forms of online commerce on social media platforms warrant closer examination. One such form is social shopping, which combines social media and online shopping. To motivate word of mouth (WOM) through social signs of approval or endorsement of brands, marketers have typically relied on social shopping rewards (SSRs). It is not typical, however, for the reason behind the social endorsement to be disclosed, leaving the branded message open to multiple interpretations. Design/methodology/approach – The dilemma of SSR disclosures is presented in a marketing and public policy analysis, drawing from findings from the WOM literature on disclosure, incentives, source credibility and on social media Disclosure Guidelines by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). Based on this analysis and on an extension of the Dual Credibility Model, a conceptual model is proposed that shows how disclosure works through source credibility to produce positive social shopping outcomes. Findings – In addition to the conceptual model, recommendations are made for marketing research, practice and public policy. Of significance are proposed SSR Disclosure Guidelines that extend FTC and WOMMA guidelines for best practices in disclosures in social media. Originality/value – This paper represents pioneering research on the disclosure of SSRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Marketing-stimulated word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing has been poorly understood in health care, leading to it being underappreciated and underutilized by marketers. A study of new patients to a new runner's clinic was conducted to understand how they chose the program. The importance of marketing-stimulated WOM, both individual and organizational, is documented. Marketing-stimulated WOM is an often overlooked and rarely measured channel for increasing the impact of marketing programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Patients have to wait in waiting rooms prior to seeing the physician. But there are few studies that demonstrate what they are actually doing in the waiting room. This exploratory study was designed to investigate the types of discussions that patients in the waiting room typically engage in with other patients and how the conversations affected their opinion on general reputation of the clinic, injections/blocks as treatment procedures, waiting time, time spent with the caregiver, overall patient satisfaction, and the pain medication usage policy. The study demonstrates that patient interaction in the waiting room has a positive effect on patient opinion of the pain clinic and the caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of virtual social networks (VSNs) and to determine their salient attributes, including those that influence flow experience, trust and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behaviors affecting users’ purchase intentions, and to provide important strategic implications contributing to the Internet marketing literature. Design/methodology/approach – Using a self-administered questionnaire, the data (n = 167) are collected from two Iranian Internet social networking sites, namely, facenama.com and cloob.com. Using LISREL 8.5, hypothesized relationships are examined through structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Findings – According to the results of the study, despite all assumptions and studies to the contrary, eWOM behaviors in VSNs are derived from neither users’ flow experience nor their trust in VSNs, but they are mostly caused by VSNs’ attributes, from which four are investigated in this study, namely, communication and social relationships, entertainment, information disclosure and ease of use. Nevertheless, according to the results, VSN attributes also influence trust and flow experience, trust in a VSN environment influences users’ flow experience and eWOM in VSNs has significant impact on users’ purchase intentions. The findings also revealed that the level of education of a user affects how much he trusts the VSN environment. Practical implications – The author examined flow experience, trust, eWOM behavior, purchase intentions and the VSNs’ attributes to verify their relationships, providing a better understanding of an effective indirect marketing in VSNs. The results also have important implications for researchers. Originality/value – While flow experience, trust, word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors and purchase intentions have been separately studied in Web sites, e-shopping malls and blogs, little research has sought to identify the existence of these elements within VSNs, their correlations with one another and how they are affected by VSNs’ attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the ramifications of the epidemiological metaphor at the centre of viral marketing. In particular, it explores the tension that exists between the presentation of the viral marketing message as an independent, quasi-organic entity with a threatening, wild potential and the apparently contradictory assertion that it can also be ‘domesticated’ through careful management of its design parameters and infection vectors. The influence of both memetics and the tipping point motif on this depiction is discussed, and the article considers the persuasive advantages of implications of message agency in the marketing of viral marketing itself. This article is the first study of the root metaphors underlying the discourse of viral marketing and serves to contextualise that discourse within the historical influence of memetic theory and the early literature on word-of-mouth marketing, and the more general relationship that marketing continues to have with issues of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study reports results from three research studies conducted over 12 weeks as part of a product seeding campaign. Partnering with a word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) agency for this research, studies 1 and 2 report agency-conducted surveys of campaign participants' online and offline word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors. Study 3 deployed an innovative web-based methodology to map and visualize WOM communication patterns, to reveal how campaign-related conversations spread within and across offline friendship networks and the role played by tie strength in that process. We find that agency reports of WOMM campaign results overstate reach and understate frequency. Our results have implications for the measurement of reach and frequency of WOMM campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Word of mouth (WOM) has become the focus of growing interest among marketing practitioners and consumers. However, the promises of WOM marketing are often oversold, and various assertions about the nature of WOM, its dynamics, antecedents, and consequences at times have been misstated in mass-mediated articles and books on the topic. In this introductory paper for the special issue on WOM and social media, we survey the current state of WOM knowledge and the role of WOM in contemporary marketing, reconsider common beliefs about the WOM process in an effort to separate WOM facts from fallacies, and presage some future directions and best practices in light of evolving online channels of WOM generation and transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wedding planner is a new industry in recently years in Taiwan. This research adopts quality interview to understand the organization structure, industrial pattern, and customer interaction of wedding planner. The result shows that wedding planner plays an integrating role in the wedding industry. According to demand of customers, they supply customization services through integrating the other industrial members. They use a flat management structure, where the employees have the ability to multi-task. In high season, they hire part-time staff to support their work. In service encounter, they place emphasis on face-to-face contact and communication tools such as e-mail and Facebook. Creative idea for the wedding plan is often got from the discussion and interaction with wedding couple. Therefore a good service planner is good for communication, positive consumer evaluation, and the word-of-mouth marketing benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived brand orientation (PBO), satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour in the Australian higher education sector. Design/methodology/approach – Two hundred and fifty-eight questionnaires were completed by undergraduate students of a particular university in Australia. Structural equation modeling was employed in this study to examine the associations between the constructs. Findings – This study provides empirical evidence that PBO has a positive and significant relationship with all dependent variables. The research reveals that students' perception of a university's brand orientation is significantly related to satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour. Research limitations/implications – The findings may guide the key decision makers in higher education institutions to understand the importance of brand orientation in their corporate strategy to enhance satisfaction, loyalty, and positive WOM, which can be used to differentiate themselves from other institutions in the highly competitive education market. Originality/value – Past researchers have not looked into the dynamic relationships between PBO, satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour, and hence research is to be called for in this area. The paper is the first to examine brand orientation from the perspective of the students and provide higher education institutions with recommendations to improve service quality through brand orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing views of organized word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing programs suggest that disclosing corporate affiliation reduces perceived credibility and hampers campaign effectiveness. To test this view we surveyed WOM marketing agents and their conversational partners (CP) after a WOM marketing episode. Results indicate that when disclosure occurred - defined as when the CP was aware they were talking with a person participating in an organized WOM marketing program - agents were rated as more credible, CPs had fewer negative feelings about the agent's corporate affiliation, and CPs told more people about the brand being discussed. These counter-intuitive results can be explained in part by the existing personal relationship between the agent and CP and invite us to consider how personal relationships may moderate the impact and potential business advantages of disclosure in organized WOM marketing programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visitors to a destination have varying motives, interests, and means in selecting specific venues for overnight accommodations and dining experiences as well as recreational and entertainment experiences. information acquisition leading to critical venue decisions can be made at any or all journey points-pre-trip, in-transit, and at-destination. Supported by past research, academic and practitioner, an explanatory model of at-destination search and decision strategies for travel-related services is discussed and partially tested. Travelers in general, and the adventuresome, risk averse, inexperienced, and disinclined decision makers in particular, may employ a common external search strategy, conferring with a perceived "expert" on the location and/or venue. The focus of this research is at-destination, visitor decision strategies that employ "local experts" for information acquisition and venue selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]