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Research on self-service technologies (SSTs) has not been fully developed, and it is still open to debate with many aspects concerning its effect on customer experience and potential outcomes empirically, especially in the airline industry. Studies regarding these technologies and their potential impact are needed in the airline industry as they represent an integral part of the tourism industry. Previous studies on the airline industry have merely focused on SSTs and their impact on customer adoption, tendency to use, and satisfaction. The SSTs have the capacity to influence how customers perceive their experience in the overall process of getting a service. Thus, customer experience quality (CXQ) is influenced by the perceived characteristics of SSTs. The literature on the impact of SSTs on CXQ is considerably limited in general, particularly in the airline industry. More research on this issue is needed, especially following the outbreak of COVID-19; thus, this study aims to investigate a model that integrates the impact of the perceived characteristics of SSTs as antecedents and outcomes of CXQ. The research design of this study is based on a mixed-method approach: a preliminary study consisting of two qualitative investigations and a main study through face-to-face questionnaires with airline passengers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to the data collected from passengers traveling with the airline company in Turkey (N=501) through questionnaires applied as mall intercepts. The results of this study include extending the CXQ dimensions to add consistency and institutionalism, hence contributing to the service and tourism literature. Furthermore, this research provides actionable insights for managers in airline businesses to invest more in SSTs to improve their CXQ, customer satisfaction, and positive word-ofmouth communication (WOM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates which elements are the ones that most influence the cruise passenger to recommend the onshore excursions, offering relevant information that could help all stakeholders (cruise firms, local operators, politicians, etc.) to better design/adapt shore excursions to the expectations of the cruise passengers, increasing the positive impact of this activity in the destination. The latter is essential for the existence of a good harmony between the cruise ships visiting a destination and the population living there. To this aim, an ordered logit model was estimated using a sample of 1,059 questionnaires obtained during the period 2018–2020. The results have shown that cruise passengers are more likely to recommend the onshore excursions if their expectations regarding the excursion have been covered, they have perceived a good quality/price ratio and have had a satisfactory tour guide service. Moreover, the fact that the cruisers aged between 45 and 55 are less likely to recommend excursions could suggest that the design of existing excursions could be improved by being tailored by demographic characteristics (i.e., aged-oriented) or even by offering different alternatives for each group during the shore excursion when possible. The results could be useful to all stakeholders when designing excursions to increase the positive impact of this activity on the destination.

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.)

Academic service quality in higher education is co-created by all participants of the educational process, including students. Word of mouth communication (WOM) in the education sector is among the main tools to assess the level of training services. In this context, the study investigates the relationship between the student role, academic service quality, word of mouth communication, and electronic word of mouth communication in higher education. The theoretical basis of the research is the principles of behavioural economics and service-dominant logic theory, in particular. Hypotheses were tested using the structural equation model. The research data collected using the questionnaire method were obtained from 164 students in the foreign language preparatory class at a state university in Kyrgyzstan. IBM SPSS AMOS 21 package program was used to test the structural relationships in the research model. The findings showed that student role positively affected academic service quality and WOM communication. In addition, it was concluded that academic service quality positively impacted word of mouth communication, which, in turn, affected electronic word of mouth communication. Among the directions of future research are studies with a larger sample and different research methods and designs used.

Copyright of Share: Journal of Islamic Economics & Finance / Jurnal Ekonomi dan Keuangan Islam is the property of Share Jurnal Ekonomi dan Keuangan Islam 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.)

Copyright of Diyalektolog - Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Diyalektolog 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.)

Copyright of Journal of Social Sciences Research / Sosyal Bilimler Arastirmalari Dergisi is the property of ODU Journal of Social Sciences Research 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.)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an emerging strategy for organizations to secure their status in the market that they serve. It is thought that the increase in CSR activities within and outside the organization, especially for maritime organizations, will positively affect the image of the institution. The current research aims to reveal the relationship between CSR perceptions of the employees in the maritime industry and corporate image (CI), employee satisfaction (ES), employee loyalty (EL) and word of mouth (WOM). The data obtained through a questionnaire from 284 office workers in a Turkish ship-owner company were tested with the Structural Equation Model using SPSS 24.0 AMOS 21.0 statistical package program. As a result, it was found that there is a positive relationship among CSR and ES, CI, WOM and EL. In addition, it has been concluded that CSR has a very high effect on CI, also CI has a very high effect on WOM communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of brand trust and awareness on women's participation in Instagram clothing brand pages on traditional word of mouth communication. This study focuses on Instagram, a popular social media platform, female users in the Y and Z generation, and traditional word of mouth. The sample of the study consists of 325 participants in the Y and Z generation who know women's clothing brands and visit the page of one of these brands at least once on Instagram. The survey form used was distributed via Google Forms. Analyzes were made with the SPSS package program. As a result of the analysis; It was concluded that among the women who use Instagram, the brand awareness of the Z generation, the participation of the Y generation in the brand pages, brand awareness and brand trust have a positive effect on traditional word of mouth communication. As a result of the research, recommendations were made to the managers of the clothing brands on Instagram. In addition, the present study investigates the effects of social networks on traditional word-of-mouth communication in clothing brands, taking into account the size of the clothing industry and the differences between generations. In this context, the research fills the gap in the literature by proposing a holistic perspective that combines generational differences, participation in brand pages, brand awareness and brand trust in female users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As intangible experiences are crucial for approach tendencies toward a destination, this research proposes the CI-MI-R framework linking cognitive image (CI) to response (R) via mental imagery (MI). Cosmopolitanism, escapism, and cognitive thinking style are examined as moderators in the relationship between cognitive image and mental imagery. Two studies from USA and Germany confirmed the role of mental imagery as a mediator between cognitive image and tourist response. The three segmentation-based moderators decrease the strength of the link between cognitive image and mental imagery, suggesting that targeting tourists, who are low (high) in cosmopolitanism, escapism, and cognitive thinking style, with cognitive images will be more (less) effective in increasing their mental imagery of the destination and subsequently approach responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Erciyes Akademi is the property of Erciyes Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 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.)

Word-of-mouth communication is all about communicating with others one's experience with particular brand, is a key marketing approach for dairy product marketers in Sri Lanka because, the information provided through this channel is often viewed as reliable by others. According to the findings of this research, using word-of-mouth communication as a technique for developing Dairy brands' distinct characteristics is a critical aspect that may contribute to brand personality. By gathering data from 200 respondents, the current study intends to investigate the effect of word of mouth communication on brand personality. The findings show that word of mouth communication has a favorable impact on the development of a brand personality. This finding can function as course of action for marketing strategies in the context of fast moving consumer goods by building strong WOM strategy for dairy brands and thus resulting in brand personality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Çalışmanın amacı tüketicilerin sponsorluk etkinliklerine yönelik tutumlarının belirlenmesi, tutumların etkinliğin türüne, etkinlikten haberdarlık durumuna ve cinsiyete göre farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığının tespit edilmesidir. Bu doğrultuda, sponsorluk etkinliklerine yönelik uyum beklentisi, tutum ve ağızdan ağıza iletişim davranışında bulunma niyetlerinin frekans değerleri incelenmiştir. Değişkenlerin sponsorluk türü, sponsorluktan haberdar olma durumu ve cinsiyete göre farklılaşma durumu t-testi ile değerlendirilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda tüketicilerin sponsorluk etkinliği ile işletme imajının uyumlu olmasını beklediği görülmüştür. Haberdarlık durumunun tutum ve niyetleri güçlendirdiği, kadınların ağızdan ağıza iletişim niyetinin daha yüksek olduğu, tüketicilerde sanat sponsorlukları için daha yüksek bir uyum beklentisi olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

This research titled “Enchancement Model of Purchase Decision to Instagram Online Shopping Media Through Shopping Orientation, Web Quality, Price, and Word of Mouth Communications.” The development of technology is increasing nowadays, with this technology, it makes consumers easy to do an online transaction like to buy items or services. This research intends to test influence of shopping orientation, price against the influence of purchase decision through word of mouth communication survey to consumer in semarang who do an online purchase transaction. There are 100 respondets of consumers who live in semarang and do an online purchase transaction with purposive sampling method using path analysis. The result of this research shows that shopping orientation variable (X1), web quality (X2), and price (X3), word of mouth communications (Y1) are affect to purchase decision variable (Y2), either directly and indirectly through word of mouth communications.

Despite the large number of studies about competences in higher education, several important gaps in research can be identified. The present paper aims to fill two of these gaps by analysing the influence of generic-academic competences on individuals' satisfaction with the learning experience, and of this satisfaction on their loyalty to their higher education institution. Loyalty is measured through two components: intentions of recommending the higher education institution, that is, word of mouth (WOM) communication and confirmation of past behaviour. Moreover, two key actors in the learning process -current students and ex-students- have been analysed. Partial Least Squares (PLS) are used to analyse the structural model and to test possible differences between groups. The findings demonstrate that satisfaction is a fundamental mediator between generic-academic competences and loyalty. Institutions have to reinforce generic-academic competences, focusing both on current students and ex-students to obtain loyal customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's consumers have to decide to purchase decisions with lots of informations because of changeble and developing compatition makets. Marketers are developing new strategies for respond to the constantly changing demands and needs of consumers. When the marketers use the word of mouth marketing strategy the companies will have compatition adventages. In this study, it was aimed to measure the role of word of mouth marketing on pre-school education preferences. The findings of this research highlight that the most of the parents take advice; and the individuals whom they take advice from are the persons in their close environment and who are experts on pre-school education while they are buying preschool education service. It has been concluded that the role of WOMM differs according to gender and proffession; and the word of mouth communication differs only in proffessional groups. The behavior of information seeking shows difference only based on occupation and income groups. It has been determined that the opinion leadership also differs based on gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a lack of research relevant to word of mouth (WOM) communication in political marketing. Also, existing studies on WOM communication identified behavioral determinants of the concept and neglected associated marketing stimuli. This study offers a 10-dimensional 62-item statistically significant WOM model for political marketing to address the stated lacuna. The study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze 2357 pieces of primary data collected as samples from voters in Bangladesh. To prepare the questionnaire, authors created a pool of relevant items (through recent studies found in Google scholars) and tested the content validity through literature review, expert opinion of five academics, comments of three political scientists, and pilot study. Results of the study revealed that all political marketing dimensions of the model influence WOM sharing and WOM recommendation. The study also found a significant influence of external variables (media, internet, and technology) on WOM communication. Item-specific results found that in regards to political mix components, the ones that had the most influence on WOM communication were psychological cost if the candidate wins, image of the candidate as leader, using celebrities and icons in the campaigns, building election gates, and candidate's modesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Commerce & Management Quarterly is the property of Chinese Association of Business & Management Technology 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.)

This article investigates the relationship between a firm’s visibility in blogspaces, termed blog exposure, and the cross-sectional stock returns. We show that blog exposure is fundamentally different from the traditional media coverage, and securities with low blog exposure earn higher returns than stocks with high blog exposure. We further illustrate that such an effect is more prominent for stocks with low institutional ownership. Contrary to traditional media coverage, the return premium associated with blog exposure cannot be explained by either the illiquidity hypothesis or the investor recognition hypothesis based on the rational-agent framework. Instead, our results suggest that blog effect can be attributed to the limited attention theory and cannot be arbitraged due to investors’ self-attribution and short-sale constraints. Our research points out the importance of blogs in information dissemination, especially for the stocks with limited attention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The goal of this research is to establish the relationships between the Big Five personality traits – Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness – and the motivations to deliver electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the social media. The research method was based on a survey administered to 262 subjects, mostly students and young professionals. The personality traits that are most related to eWOM are Extraversion (that influences the need for social appreciation and Positive self-enhancement) and Openness to experience (that determines the concern for others and the desire to help good companies). Conscientiousness has a negative relationship with the tendency to Vent negative feelings about a bad buy, while Neuroticism has a slight influence on the motivation to get Social benefits and Self-enhancement. Knowing the prevalent personality traits and motivations of the eWOM transmitters, the company communication strategist can figure out the most proper ways to approach them. This paper is one of the few that throughly investigates the relationship between personality traits and the intrinsic motivations to write online reviews about companies and brands.

Purpose - Vlogging enables individuals to share experiences, knowledge and diaries with the online community. Recently many studies have shown that vloggers’ main characteristics and blog types have a direct influence on users as an effective medium. As vlogs have become an important tool for interactive communication, the purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between vloggers’characteristics, trust, word of mouth and intention of online shopping. This study implies that the vblog can be a meaningful learning platform and the vlogging can be a significant medium in having/sharing the informal knowledge for online shopping. Design/Methodology/Approach- Based on various theories, the structural equation modelling approach was proposed in this study. A survey with convenience sampling involving 357 vlog users as participants was analyzed in the empirical study to investigate whether the usefulness of vbloggers’ recommendations and trusting beliefs towards vblogger has influence on consumers’ behavioral intentions towards word of mouth and online shopping. Findings-The results showed that vloggers’ characteristics had significant influential effect on vlog users’ attitude towards and intention to shop online. Moreover, the findings indicated that engagement characteristics of vloggers elicited trust more than authoritative knowledged characteristics of vloggers. As a result of the path analysis it is discovered that the intention to shop online is triggered through trust and word of mouth communication. Engagement knowledge has more power on the relationship between word of mouth communication and the intention to purchase. As much as users trust that the content of the vlog is based on true information and not for advertising strategy, the more likely they want to share the information virally. That would have a direct impact to the increasing intention to buy. Originality/Value- The originality of this paper is to study vlogging, which is a new working field in the scholarly literature, and its correlation to users’ intention to buy. This study especially analyzes the vlog characteristics and their increasingly leading factors to users/readers’ attractiveness intention to buy. The value of this study concentrated on the trust issue and its positive relation to amateur vloggers instead of authorative knowledged based ones.

The paper presents gossip as a meansof social control. It shows that gossip as informalsocial control is used mainly to maintain a group’snorms and values. It highlights the importanceof the preventive character of gossip, because thepossible existence of gossip affects an individual’sperception of their reputation. The mere fact thatan individual can be an object of gossip or public opinion and thereby be identified as a violator ofstandards, values or norms, has a great influenceon their future social participation and reputationin that group. Within the context of social control,the manuscript presents several theories regardinggossip – the theory of the evolutionary originof gossip, the theory of gossip as a factor whichreinforces social values and norms, the theory ofgossip as a means for purely selfish personal gain,and finally the theory of pro-social gossip and gossipas a form of punishment. It also describes thefundamental functions of gossip and the reasonsfor its spread, and thereby highlights its societalimportance.

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches 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.)

This research was conducted to .find (1) the application of marketing public relations, (2) communication word of mouth on the attractiveness of Taman Safari Indonesia, (3) the influence of marketing public relations for word of mouth communication. The method used is quantitative with explanatory research type, which explains the causal relationship between the independent variables on the dependent variable through hypothesis testing. This type of research consists of descriptive and verification conducted through data collection in the field Data collection methods used in the form of a questionnaire measuring instrument method research is conducted with a sample of 46 tourists. This study uses a descriptive analysis of the frequency and method of simple linear regression. The results showed that (1) the relationship public marketing undertaken by manager Taman Safari Indonesia has done well, through publications, events, sponsorship, news, speeches, public service and media activity identity, (2) communication word of mouth carried by tourists so that it can help disseminate information on attractions quickly. This study found that the tourist attractions are also provided recommendations, saying positive things and encourage and influence others to visit the attractions are concerned. (3) There is a significant positive effect between marketing and public relations for the communication word of mouth. This indicates a better marketing, Public Relations better than word of mouth communication about the appeal.

This study determined the influence of service quality on word of mouth communication with customer satisfaction as a mediator in private universities of Peshawar. Data was composed of the students of private universities of Peshawar through convenience sampling technique. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) conducted to check the model. In the lights of fit indices the proposed model was found fit. Hypotheses were check through path analysis and found the correlation coefficient value of 0.76 significant at p<0.01demonstrating a strong optimistic influence of service quality on word of mouth communication however the association became stronger when customer satisfaction intervened as the correlation coefficient value increased to 0.89. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Social Sciences Research / Sosyal Bilimler Arastirmalari Dergisi is the property of ODU Journal of Social Sciences Research 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.)

Word of mouth communications in marketing is one of the important informal communication tools between consumer of goods, service and organizations which is appointed with the researchers. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between locus of control with word of mouth communication between students of Isfahan University. This is a survey study which it is samples were 243 students of university of Isfahan. It is data gathering instrument was a questionnaire .The Pearson correlation coefficient between locus of control and word of mouth communication shows that internal locus of control have positive and significant correlation with word of mouth communication and external locus of control (chance) have negative and significant correlation with word of mouth communication. But external locus of control (powerful others) don’t have significant correlation with word of mouth communication although the result of independent sample t test shows that women have more participant than men in word of mouth communication.

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches 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.)

Copyright of Journal of International Social Research is the property of Journal of International Social Research 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.)

Copyright of Journal of International Social Research is the property of Journal of International Social Research 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.)

Marketers have been shifting resources from traditional media to online media for several years. While online consumer behavior has been the topic of numerous research studies, there are few published studies to date comparing the valence of reviews in different product categories. This is particularly relevant since it is often quoted that "A satisfied customer will tell 2-3 people, while a dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience." (TARP, 1979). The goal of this study was to test this assumption in the digital marketplace by determining if the number of favorable and unfavorable reviews reported to be posted online by consumers varies by product category. The findings indicated that for each of the 20 product categories examined, consumers were more likely to write a favorable review. The gender differences were examined; there were no overall differences in the number of reviews posted by males and females, but there were significant interactions of gender with product type and sentiment type. The authors also performed a preliminary analysis of the psychological characteristics of reviewers; it was found that certain traits such as self-acceptance, positive attitude and peer conformity were related to posting reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seiring berkembangnya jaman, persaingan bisnis semakin ketat dan kompetitif. Untuk bias bertahan ditengah persaingan yang semakin ketat dan kompetitif, salah satu syarat yang harus dipenuhi oleh perusahaan agar dapat sukses di tengah ketatnya persaingan adalah berusaha mencapai tujuan untuk menciptakan dan mempertahankan pelanggan. Agar tujuan tersebut tercapai, maka perusahaan harus berupaya menghasilkan dan menyampaikan produk atau jasa yang diinginkan konsumen. Oleh sebab itu, peneliti mengambil judul penelitian Pengaruh Kualitas Produk Dan Word Of Mouth Communication Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian (Studi Pada Toko Emas Ari Jaya). Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang telah dilakukan di toko emas Ari Jaya dengan jumlah responden sebanyak 100 orang, menggambarakn bahwa kualitas produk dan word of mouth communication mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap keputusan pembelian, baik secara parsial maupun simultan. Disamping itu variabel yang paling dominan dalam mempengaruhi keputusan pembelian adalah variabel word of mouth communication. Adapun analisa yang digunakan dalam peneletian ini, yakni analisis regresi berganda, uji t, uji f dan koefisien determinasi

The increase of customer portfolio, competition superiority and providing its existence take place in purposes of a business. With this purpose, service businesses should announce their services to the target groups. However, it is inevitable for service businesses to make use of different sale and advertising techniques according to the business segment. In Turkey some bans and limitations have been applied legally on some service segments. Advertising ban is the primary one of these legal bans and limitations. Profession of accountancy is in the scope of this ban. But it is evitable that these service producer and similiar ones in the scope of ban should make use of some sale and advertising techniques according to their purposes. And word of mouth communication is the primary one of these techniques. Therefore it is clear that such bunisesses should use word of mouth communication effectively. In this research, it has been studied to find out whether word-of-mouth communication has an effect on enriching customer portfolio and especially the effect of positive word-of-mouth communication on increasing the customer portfolios of service businesses. For this purpose, questionnaires prepared through the process of scale development have been implemented in Malatya. The data of 450 questionnaire obtained at the of this implementation was entered in data file of SPSS 20,0 programme. Statistical analyses such as frequency, credibility, anova, correlation were applied. As a result of analyses, by laying emphasis on the positive word-of-mouth communication's importance of increasing customer portfolio of employees of accountancy profession which is a service one, some advice is put forward for both businesses utilizing service of accountancy and employees of accountancy profession giving the service of accountancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to identify and evaluate the factors that determine the level of service quality in the field of health rehabilitation centers in Thessaly. Health rehabilitation centers are part of the market of the primary and secondary level of medical care and they are an employment area for many students and universities and technological institutions. To evaluate the quality of services, was used the Brady and Cronin (2001) model, after adaptation in the content of centers providing medical services. According to the survey results: a) there was no statistically significant difference in service quality perceptions according to demographic issues between subgroups, b) the subgroup 'married' patients scored higher than the subgroup "unmarried» patients (p≤0,01), c) patients with a longer duration treatment were associated with higher scores in satisfaction (p <0,05), d) patients that were operated felt less satisfied from the equipment, the personnel and generally from the administration (p <0,05), e) yet regarding the type of medical center, the results of the investigation had argued that private centers were superior in service quality (p <.001) compared with public treatment centers. Results are discussed with a view to presenting proposals to improve the level of service quality provided by Thessaly medical centers to their patients. Further analysis of the perception of patients by the management of the health centers, may be promote new strategies in order to attract new patients as the competition in health centers especially in Thessaly increasing gradually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research provides an empirical test of the 'Twitter effect,' which postulates that microblogging word of mouth (MWOM) shared through Twitter and similar services affects early product adoption behaviors by immediately disseminating consumers' post-purchase quality evaluations. This is a potentially crucial factor for the success of experiential media products and other products whose distribution strategy relies on a hyped release. Studying the four million MWOM messages sent via Twitter concerning 105 movies on their respective opening weekends, the authors find support for the Twitter effect and report evidence of a negativity bias. In a follow-up incident study of 600 Twitter users who decided not to see a movie based on negative MWOM, the authors shed additional light on the Twitter effect by investigating how consumers use MWOM information in their decision-making processes and describing MWOM's defining characteristics. They use these insights to position MWOM in the word-of-mouth landscape, to identify future word-of-mouth research opportunities based on this conceptual positioning, and to develop managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]