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Despite recognizing the importance of eReferral in shaping tourists’ behavioral intentions, researchers have rarely explored its dynamics. In the recent years, interest in the superiority of interactive eReferral over eWOM has burgeoned, thus increasing theoretical and empirical quest, which has generated many inconsistencies. Drawing on social identity, trust transfer and social tie theories, the purpose of this paper is to explore an integrative model that investigates the impact of interactive eReferral on tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit. Besides the direct influences of interactive eReferral on tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit, the authors assess the mediating role of tourist engagement on the relationship between these concepts.

Utilizing survey data, variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM) was applied to diagnose the proposed model.

VB-SEM results suggest that interactive eReferral has a positive impact on tourist engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit. Tourist engagement mediates the link between interactive eReferral and eReferral sharing behavior, and intention to visit.

By examining the relationship between interactive eReferral, tourists’ engagement, eReferral sharing behavior and intention to visit, the model departs from existing views to shed new light on the interactivity of eReferral. Implications for marketing practices and research are discussed.

Little empirical attention has been paid to the effects of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), electronic referral (eReferral), familiarity and cultural distance on behavioral outcomes, especially within the context of educational tourism. Based on the social network theory, this paper aims to explore the effects of eReferral, eWOM, familiarity and cultural distance on enrollment intention.

Survey data (n = 931) were obtained from educational tourists using a judgmental sampling technique. Linear modeling and artificial intelligence (i.e. artificial neural network [ANN]) techniques were used for training and testing the proposed associations.

The results suggest that eReferral, eWOM, familiarity and cultural distance predict intention to enroll both symmetrically (linear modeling) and asymmetrically (ANN). The asymmetric modeling possesses greater predictive validity and relevance.

This study contributes theoretically and methodologically to the management literature by validating the proposed relationships and deploying contemporary methods such as the ANN. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

是否在线推荐, 在线口碑, 熟悉度, 还有文化距离决定参加意图吗？人工智能科技的应用

很少有研究检测过在线口碑（eWOM）, 在线推荐（eReferral）, 熟悉度, 和文化距离对行为结果的影响, 特别是在教育旅游的领域里。本论文基于社交网络理论探索eReferral, eWOM, 熟悉度, 和文化距离对参加意图的作用。

研究样本数据为931位教育旅游的游客, 通过判断抽样技术。本论文通过线性建模和人工智能（即人工神经网络）技术来培训和检测提出的关系。

研究结果表明, eRefferal, eWOM, 熟悉度, 和文化距离对参与意图起到决定作用, 其中包括对称（线性建模）和非对称地（人工神经网络）方式。非对称建模将增加有效性和相关性的决定度。

本论文通过证实提出的关系和采用现代方法, 比如人工神经网络, 对管理文献做出理论和实践的贡献。本论文还讨论了对实践和理论的启示。

Based on climate issues and carbon emissions, this study aims to promote low-carbon consumption and compel consumers to actively shift to energy-saving appliances. In this big data era, online reviews in social and electronic commerce (e-commerce) websites contain valuable product information, which can facilitate firm business strategies and consumer comparison shopping. This study is designed to advance existing research on energy-saving refrigerators by incorporating machine learning models in the analysis of online reviews to provide valuable suggestions to e-commerce platform managers and manufacturers to effectively understand the psychological cognition of consumers.

This study proposes an online e-commerce review mining and management strategy model based on “data acquisition and cleaning, data mining and analysis and strategy formation” through multiple machine learning methods, namely, Bayes networks, support vector machine (SVM), latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and importance–performance analysis (IPA), to help managers.

Based on a case study of one of the largest e-commerce platforms in China, this study linguistically analyzes 29,216 online reviews of energy-saving refrigerators. Results indicate that the energy-saving refrigerator features that consumers are generally satisfied with are, in sequential order, logistics, function, price, outlook, after-sales service, brand, quality and space. This study also identifies ten topics with 100 keywords by analyzing 18 different refrigerator models. Finally, based on the IPA, this study allocates different priorities to the features and provides suggestions from the perspective of consumers, the government and manufacturers.

In terms of limitations, future research may focus on the following points. First, the topics identified in this study derive from specific points in time and reviews; thus, the topics may change with the text data. A machine learning-based online review analysis platform could be developed in the future to dynamically improve consumer satisfaction. Moreover, given that consumers' needs may change over time, e-commerce platform types and consumer characteristics, such as user profiles, can be incorporated into the model to effectively analyze trends in consumers' perceived dimensions.

This study fills the gap in previous research in this field, which uses small-sample data for qualitative analysis, while integrating management ideas and proposes an online e-commerce review mining and management strategy model based on machine learning methods. Moreover, this study considers how consumers' emotional and thematic preferences for products affect their purchase decision-making from the perspective of their psychological perception and linguistically analyzes online reviews of energy-saving refrigerators using the proposed mining model. Through the improved IPA model, this study provides optimizing strategies to help e-commerce platform managers and manufacturers.

The purpose of this study is to find out the factors that influence dental travelers’ revisit intention (RI) to Tijuana, Mexico.

Based on the push and pull model, five constructs were included: quality service, price, supporting services, cultural proximity and quality information. The information was obtained by applying an online survey to a sample of 384 dental tourists in Tijuana, Mexico, who were repeat patients of a dental clinic in Tijuana after the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploratory factor analysis, average variance explained and composite reliability were conducted to ensure the validity of each construct. Multiple regression analysis was done to identify predictors of travelers’ RI.

The results obtained show that cultural proximity, quality service, price and supporting services influenced the travelers’ revisit behavior after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge on travel behavior in dental tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which has been scarcely studied. Also, RI was analyzed, focusing on repeated travelers to propose a model mainly for borders or frontiers where developed and developing countries co-exist and interact.

It is empirically proven that enhanced engagement with a focal medium motivates a consumer to post electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). However, what has not been explored is whether enhanced exposure to eWOM results in greater consumer brand engagement (CBE). While answering this question, this study also assesses the influence of eWOM and CBE on customer loyalty and satisfaction with the brand. The study has been conducted across two products –a search product and an experience product.

A model is developed and hypotheses are proposed using the Elaboration Likelihood Model which are then tested using PLS-SEM. Data was collected from 712 respondents across India.

Findings indicate that eWOM significantly and positively affects CBE in both product categories. CBE significantly and positively influences both satisfaction and loyalty. eWOM is not significantly related to loyalty for both search and experience products. It is, however, found to be significantly and positively associated with satisfaction in case of the experience product, while a non-significant relationship was found for the search product.

The present study uses the survey method and PLS-SEM as the analysis technique which makes it correlational and confirmatory. The study, therefore, makes no firm claims on establishing causality.

The paper presents an original idea that CBE fully mediates the relationship between eWOM and satisfaction. This study attempts to fulfil a critical gap in the existing literature by establishing that eWOM generated by other users/consumers about a brand has a significant impact on CBE irrespective of the type of the product that is search or experience.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of electronic referral (eReferral) marketing and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on brand image and purchase intention, coupled with the moderating effect of gender in the relationship.

Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the interplay between the proposed variables, using a random sample of 308 respondents in Cyprus.

The empirical results suggest the following: eReferral does influence brand image, and the impact is significant with women only; eWOM influences brand image, and the impact is more significant with women than men; eWOM influences purchase intention, and the impact is the same for both genders; brand image influences purchase intention, and the impact is more significant with women than men.

Marketing managers can benefit from these competitive advantage tools. Brand image, awareness and sales volume can be increased by utilizing eWOM or eReferral, depending on the product and/or service functionality as well as gender.

While there is a substantial research stream on eWOM, to the best of the authors’ knowledge no research has differentiated eReferral from eWOM. This paper provides useful insights regarding the two concepts.

This paper investigates the impact of brand interactivity within social media on consumer–brand engagement and its related outcomes, including consumers' intention of co-creating brand value and future repurchase of the same brand.

The theoretical framework is tested for a durable technology product, a smartphone. Data was collected in Brazil from 408 users utilizing a self-administered online survey. Data analysis uses partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Entertainment interactivity, cognitive information-transfer interaction and cognitive up-to-date information interactivity are the key elements directly influencing consumer–brand engagement, enhancing consumers' intention to co-create brand value and to repurchase the brand. Importantly, the impact of interactivity ease of use and customization interactivity on consumer–brand engagement and its related outcomes is non-significant. This is inconsistent with previous studies on consumer–brand engagement.

The research contributes to the literature by providing an understanding of how to use brand interactivity elements on social-media platforms to strengthen consumer–brand engagement for durable technology products, such as smartphones in Brazil. However, this study is cross-sectional in nature and focus is solely on smartphones in Brazil. Future research might consider a longitudinal design and include comparisons between countries with diverse cultures as well as other industries and product types to enhance the generalizability of the findings.

Marketers may heighten consumer–brand engagement by using content that is entertaining, current and trendy. Incorporating positive referrals on social-media platforms encourages consumers to co-create brand value and to repurchase the same brand in the future.

Examination of the role of social-media marketing in the marketing literature largely overlooks the impact of elements of brand interactivity within social media on consumer–brand engagement. This article contributes to social-media marketing and consumer–brand engagement research by empirically testing a theoretical model, confirming that specific elements of brand interactivity within social media – including entertainment interactivity, cognitive information-transfer interaction and cognitive up-to-date information interactivity – are critical drivers in the process of strengthening consumer–brand engagement in Brazil.

The purpose of this work is to test several incentive strategies for attaining new customers via electronic referrals, or e‐referrals. The paper aims to examine: the roles of both the magnitude of the incentive offered to the sender and the magnitude of the incentive offered to the receiver; and the effect of equity versus inequity of financial incentives for the two parties.

The study consisted of a large‐scale field experiment conducted with 45,000 members of an online mall. The participants were divided into eight conditions in an incomplete two‐factor 4×4 between‐subjects design, where not every combination of incentive magnitudes was utilized and the magnitude of the incentive offered the receiver and sender varied in size such that sometimes rewards were equal, sometimes receivers of the e‐referral had larger rewards, and sometimes senders of the e‐referral s received more. Dependent measures included the number of e‐referrals sent, the number of those e‐referrals that lead to a new customer registering, and the number of new registrants that converted to buyers from completing a purchase.

The results demonstrate that both the magnitude of financial incentives, and the relative magnitude of the incentives for the senders and receivers both influence e‐referral rates. Specifically, it was found that offering higher incentives to senders and receivers led to an increase in referral invitations sent, new member sign‐ups and new buyers. It was also found that the disparity between incentives offered to senders and receivers affected e‐referral rates and that inequity should favor the sender to enhance results.

This paper offers marketers valuable insights as to how different combinations of financial incentives to receivers and senders can affect e‐referral rates. The findings suggest that potential referrers respond not only to referral incentives but also to the disparity between their incentives and the receivers' incentives.

This paper aims to deliver a systematic review of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism by synthesising existing literature, thus presenting a state-of-art landscape of customer engagement research.

A total of 173 peer-reviewed articles were collected from seven databases, spanning from 2007 to 2020. A systematic review was conducted by analysing, categorizing and synthesising existing studies to examine the evolution, conceptual nature, typology and measurement of the existing literature on customer engagement in hospitality and tourism.

This study provides an overview of the temporal, spatial, sectoral and journal-wise distribution of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism. A comprehensive definition of customer engagement is proposed based on five fundamental propositions. Scrutiny of customer engagement studies in hospitality and tourism presents four sub-forms, including online customer engagement, tourist engagement, customer brand engagement and customer engagement behaviour. Additionally, the research methods, dimensionality and measurement scales of customer engagement are systematically reviewed.

This study is the first systematic review of customer engagement research in the field of hospitality and tourism. The original definition leads to an improved understanding of customer engagement. This study is also the first to propose a clear typology of customer engagement to enhance consistency in usage.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a research model examining the impact of five social media marketing (SMM) elements–entertainment, customization, interactivity, electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM) and trendiness–on consumers' intent to participate in value co-creation and on consumer–brand engagement (CBE) and perceived brand value in turn.

The research model is tested for wearable healthcare technology, a smart-technology product. Data were collected in China from 294 users using a self-administered online survey. Data analysis uses partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Entertainment, customization and eWOM are the key predictors in driving consumers' value co-creation intention, thereby strengthening the value co-creation process, CBE and perceived brand value. In contrast with previous studies in the area of value co-creation and CBE, the impact of interactivity and trendiness on value co-creation intention is non-significant.

The research contributes to the literature by providing an understanding of how to use SMM dimensions to drive consumers' value co-creation intention for smart-technology products, such as healthcare-wearable technology. However, this study is cross-sectional in nature and its focus is solely on wearable healthcare technology in China. To enhance the generalizability of the findings, future research might consider a longitudinal design and include comparisons between countries with diverse cultures, along with other types of smart-technology products.

The findings provide guidance for marketers to enhance CBE and perceived brand value by strengthening consumers' value co-creation intention, using SMM with entertaining and customized content and encouraging positive referrals on social-media platforms.

Scholarly attention on the importance of SMM in strengthening consumers' value co-creation intention and CBE is limited, and the question of which SMM elements are effective in driving value co-creation and its link to perceived brand value has not been examined. This paper contributes to the marketing literature by developing and empirically testing a research model, revealing entertainment, customization and eWOM as key SMM elements driving value co-creation intention and CBE for a smart-technology product in China.