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1 – 10 of over 1000This study aims to examine food tourists’ engagement in positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) by considering the following questions: Do satisfied customers engage…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine food tourists’ engagement in positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) by considering the following questions: Do satisfied customers engage in advocacy, and do dissatisfied customers make the same effort to spread their negative experiences? Which restaurant experience attributes influence eWOM behavior? What demographic and psychographic characteristics contribute to advocacy?
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from an online survey of 456 consumers with restaurant experience in the tourism context, this study applied simultaneous Tobit estimation to examine the research hypotheses.
Findings
Engagement in negative eWOM because of poor experiences was stronger than engagement in positive eWOM because of positive experiences. Food taste was a critical attribute for both positive and negative eWOM. Authenticity was influential for positive eWOM only, and value was influential for negative eWOM only. Atmosphere, service and location were found to be insignificant, indicating that they are ‘indifferent’ factors for eWOM in the food tourism context. Female customers were more active in negative advocacy, while Generation Y customers were more active in positive advocacy. Food involvement was significantly related to both positive and negative eWOM.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study provide useful marketing and service insights for restaurant managers in the digitally connected world, enabling them to formulate services based on factors critical for restaurant eWOM in the tourism context.
Originality/value
To fill a gap in the current literature in the era of digital marketing, this study takes a comprehensive yet industry-specific perspective on eWOM engagement by examining demographic factors and the food involvement of consumers as well as restaurant experience attributes. By investigating both positive and negative eWOM, this study presents meaningful practical and theoretical implications.
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Anita Whiting, David L. Williams and Joe Hair
The purpose of this study is to investigate motives for engaging in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about organizations on social media sites. This study explores motives for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate motives for engaging in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about organizations on social media sites. This study explores motives for posting positive eWOM and motives for posting negative eWOM. It also investigates whether existing WOM frameworks adequately capture consumers’ motives for spreading eWOM within the context of social media. This study seeks to confirm established motives in literature while also identifying new motives specific to social media.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study was conducted using the critical incident technique. In all, 64 positive incidents and 60 negative incidents were analyzed.
Findings
This study provides a typology for understanding consumers’ motivations for engaging in positive and negative WOM within the context of social media. Four new motives for sharing eWOM are identified; eight established WOM motives are re-confirmed; and new subcategories for eWOM motives are proposed. The study also finds that further refinement of WOM motives and scales within a social media context is needed.
Research limitations/implications
An integrated conceptual framework of both positive and negative motives is developed to illustrate a more comprehensive model of motives of eWOM within social media. Managerial implications for managing negative eWOM and amplifying positive eWOM are discussed. A limitation is that the study is exploratory in nature.
Originality/value
This study identifies new motives for sharing eWOM, re-labels existing WOM and eWOM motives with more descriptive and comprehensive titles and confirms established WOM and eWOM motives within the context of social media. This study is conducted across multiple firms and industries, leading to more generalizable results.
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Catherine Bachleda and Boutaina Berrada-Fathi
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of various sources of negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and negative personal word-of-mouth (pWOM) on trust in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of various sources of negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and negative personal word-of-mouth (pWOM) on trust in the Word-of-mouth (WOM), attitude toward the service provider and purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from 336 Moroccan workers who responded to an online survey.
Findings
Results show that negative pWOM is more influential than negative eWOM in the form of written Facebook testimonials, written review site testimonials and written testimonials on a corporate website. However, there is a relative ranking of importance among eWOM sources, with review site testimonials found to be more influential than either Facebook or corporate website testimonials.
Research limitations/implications
This work responds to a call for research on differences and similarities between pWOM and eWOM. The findings extend understanding of the relative influence of negative pWOM and negative eWOM.
Practical implications
The results of this study provide guidance to service marketers in terms of strategies for deflecting negative WOM and allocating service recovery resources.
Originality/value
This study is the first to compare the relative influence of negative pWOM and eWOM in service consumption.
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Aihwa Chang, Sara H. Hsieh and Timmy H. Tseng
Brand communities now play a significant role in building brand loyalty. Past researches focus on how brand community facilitates brand loyalty under normal market situations…
Abstract
Purpose
Brand communities now play a significant role in building brand loyalty. Past researches focus on how brand community facilitates brand loyalty under normal market situations. Yet, limited research examines consumer responses to negative events within the brand community context. Drawing from social identity theory and the theory of involvement, the present study aims to reveal the role that group eWOM plays in influencing brand community members’ evaluation on negative brand decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
By using an experimental study, the current research adopts far brand extension as the empirical testing ground.
Findings
This research illustrates that group eWOM's influence on brand community member's attitude toward the negative brand information is affected by member's level of brand community identification and brand involvement. When the group eWOM opposes far extension, high brand community identified members are driven by social creativity to resist negative impacts to the brand. However, when the group eWOM supports far extension, high brand involved members are strengthened by group eWOM to promote favorable brand evaluations and attenuate negative impacts to the brand.
Practical implications
Firms should leverage the ingrained associations between brand community identification, brand involvement and group eWOM in affecting brand community’s responses to insulate brand community from the impacts of negative events.
Originality/value
The present study extends prior research on customer loyalty from an individual perspective to reveal the significance of group dynamics in influencing brand community’s response to negative events.
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Chaofan Yang, Yongqiang Sun, Nan Wang and Xiao-Liang Shen
Although extant studies have investigated the antecedents of negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM), they treated it as a unidimensional concept without classification. To…
Abstract
Purpose
Although extant studies have investigated the antecedents of negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM), they treated it as a unidimensional concept without classification. To bridge this knowledge gap, this paper distinguishes rational negative eWOM (RNW) from emotional negative eWOM (ENW) and leverages the consumer value framework to investigate their drivers in the context of peer-to-peer accommodation platforms (PPAPs).
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected data through an online survey of 437 PPAP users. Partial least squares (PLS) were used to validate the proposed hypotheses. Further, the path coefficients comparison method was adopted to distinguish the different impacts of consumer values on RNW and ENW.
Findings
This research showed that self-presentation exerted a positive impact on RNW, but its relationship with ENW was insignificant. Anger and regret were, respectively, positively related to ENW and RNW. Besides, altruism exerted a positive effect on RNW, whereas it had a negative effect on ENW.
Originality/value
First, this paper makes a fresh attempt to categorize negative eWOM into RNW and ENW. Second, this paper draws upon the consumer value framework to dissect varied motivations for posting RNW versus ENW on PPAPs. Third, this paper empirically verifies the differential influences that consumer values exert on RNW and ENW.
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Tingting (Christina) Zhang, Behzad Abound Omran and Cihan Cobanoglu
This paper aims to explore the factors that influence Generation Y’s positive or negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior via social media and mobile technology in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the factors that influence Generation Y’s positive or negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior via social media and mobile technology in the foodservice sector. Three types of dining experiences were examined: positive and negative customer experiences and negative customer service followed by a satisfactory recovery package.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was adopted to test the factors posited to influence Generation Y consumers in these service contexts. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk , and multi-group structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data.
Findings
Active use of social media and peer influence had a sweeping influence on Generation Y’s intentions to engage in eWOM about their service experiences. Technological sophistication with mobile technology influenced Generation Y to spread positive or negative service experiences, rather than satisfactory recovery experiences. Family influence had a mixed influence on Generation Y subgroups (21-24 years old vs 25-35 years old) to engage in eWOM about their satisfactory or poor service experiences. In satisfactory recovery experiences, family influence showed no significant influence on Generation Y’s eWOM behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
This study enriches online reviews and eWOM marketing theories, adds to service failure and recovery literature and enhances understanding of consumer behavior expressed by Generation Y through the empirical investigation of Generation Y consumers’ behavioral motivations to engage in eWOM through social media and mobile technology.
Practical implications
Engaging Generation Y consumers with social media campaigns and mobile technology development is not merely sufficient in eWOM marketing strategies. Instead, it is essential to create integrative peer communities to motivate Generation Y consumers to engage in eWOM marketing. Marketers need to pay attention to the mixed effects of family influences on the eWOM behaviors of subgroups of Generation Y in positive or negative service experiences.
Originality/value
Given the scarcity of consumer behavior research into Generation Y as an emerging market segment, this paper makes an incremental contribution by developing and validating a model of factors that influence Generation Y consumers’ eWOM intentions through social networking and mobile technologies in three major service contexts: positive, negative and recovery following a service failure.
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Muhammad Sohaib, Umair Akram, Peng Hui, Hassan Rasool, Zohaib Razzaq and Muhammad Kaleem Khan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) motivations of regulatory-focused customers with positive and negative consumption experiences.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) motivations of regulatory-focused customers with positive and negative consumption experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey is conducted in Beijing and Shanghai. A random sampling technique is used to collect data from 854 respondents. Two scenarios of eWOM communication – positive and negative consumption experiences – are randomly assigned to each respondent. This study employs the structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis techniques. However, it uses ordinary least squares and logistic regression to analyze 137 participants in the experimental study.
Findings
Promotion-focused customers that aim for self-enhancement and obtaining social benefits are motivated to spread positive eWOM on social networking sites. However, prevention-focused customers are driven by vengeance and anxiety, revealing higher intentions to post negative eWOM on review sites. eWOM generation is subject to gender, as promotion-focused male customers spread it more than both prevention-focused and promotion-focused female customers. Moreover, platform assistance (PA) has a significant positive impact upon regulatory-focused customers and eWOM (positive vs negative) relationships.
Practical implications
This study provides a deeper understanding of motivational factors of eWOM communication. Specifically, in case of product or service failure, negative consumption experiences drive prevention-focused customers to generate negative eWOM. Thus, using various tactics, marketers need to shift customers from focusing on prevention to focusing on promotion. For example, redeemable free coupons can shift customer attention and generate positive eWOM.
Originality/value
This study provides unique insights about eWOM motivation across genders. It examines regulatory focus, positive vs negative consumption experiences and moderation of PA.
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Isha Sharma, Kokil Jain and Ritu Gupta
Consumer brand relationship literature has recently seen a surge of studies on brand hate, its antecedents and outcomes. Hate alone will not drive consumers to engage in negative…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumer brand relationship literature has recently seen a surge of studies on brand hate, its antecedents and outcomes. Hate alone will not drive consumers to engage in negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and indicates the interplay of other social relationship factors that can strengthen the effect of brand hate on negative eWOM. The purpose of this study is to integrate the emerging concept of brand hate and perceived social media power with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to expand the understanding of negative eWOM.
Design/methodology/approach
Data is collected through a survey conducted among university students based in the National Capital Region of Delhi in India. The research model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling in AMOSv23.
Findings
The three TPB dimensions, including brand attitude, subjective norms and individual’s propensity to anthropomorphize, are found to influence brand to hate significantly. The other perceived control factors included in the model, perceived homophily and social media self-efficacy, were found to affect perceived social media power, which, in turn, is crucial in predicting consumers’ engagement in negative eWOM behavior, both directly and through interaction with brand hate.
Originality/value
The study contributes to brand hate literature and offers a novel perspective by advocating the role of consumers’ propensity to anthropomorphize in augmenting feelings of brand hate.
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Bettina Lis and Maximilian Fischer
This study aims to investigate if different types of negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) have various negative effects on the attitude of the consumer toward a product…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate if different types of negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) have various negative effects on the attitude of the consumer toward a product (Laptop) and whether this newfound attitude remains unaffected by the subsequent influence of positive eWOM.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative study in Germany was conducted. In the two-part experimental setting, first, a factorial repeated-measures between-subjects design was used in which the types of negative eWOM have been manipulated. The second part is characterized by a mixed between–within subjects design to test the durability of attitudinal changes.
Findings
The results demonstrate that destructive and ethical eWOM only provoke a small decline in consumer attitude compared to functional product criticism. Furthermore, the examination shows that renewed positive eWOM can improve the attitude, whereas ethical criticism is the most difficult to correct.
Research limitations/implications
The study views negative eWOM differentiated. Researchers could adopt this approach by analyzing online communication more precisely. Ambivalent relationships between negative eWOM and their outcomes can be explained.
Practical implications
The findings lessen the fear of permanent loss of brand reputation caused by negative reviews. The harmful effects on the attitude can be compensated through targeted marketing management actions. The study shows which content companies need to focus on.
Originality/value
Previous literature has predominantly overlooked the complex nature of negative eWOM. Therefore, the study provides first empirical results about the divergent effect of different content types of negative eWOM on consumer attitude toward a product. Additionally, the durability of consumer negativity could be measured over time.
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ShabbirHusain R.V. and Sanjeev Varshney
The purpose of this study was to investigate consumer preference formation in presence of reviews coming from traditional and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) under different…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate consumer preference formation in presence of reviews coming from traditional and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) under different conditions of review valence.
Design/methodology/approach
Scenario-based experimental design was used for this study. A total of 172 respondents were randomly assigned across four experimental scenarios and a control group. Across-groups comparisons were conducted using post hoc Dunnett’s test for checking the hypothesis.
Findings
The study revealed that negativity bias impacted consumer judgement formation to such an extent that positive valence from higher credibility source (WOM) is over-powered by negative reviews from lesser trusted source (eWOM). Further, a negative valence review from higher credibility source (WOM) may not be countered even in presence of consensus of positive valence review coming from a higher number of positive eWOM.
Originality/value
This study contributes to existing literature by examining consumer preference behaviour in presence of reviews coming from traditional and eWOM under different conditions of review valence. While earlier studies have examined individual role of WOM and eWOM under differing valence conditions, this paper extends literature by studying combined effect of WOM and eWOM under different review valence.
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