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The purpose of this paper is to integrate guerrilla marketing characteristics into advertising model through which the perceived effects of guerrilla marketing on Gen Y are identified, and to examine such effects on word of mouth (WOM) activity with the mediation of message credibility.

The study obtains its exploratory purpose through quantitative method by asking Gen Y participants about their perceptions of 20 guerrilla advertisements in the questionnaires. Those advertisements and the advertising scales are selectively chosen from previous literature so that the results truthfully reflect the effects of guerrilla marketing under consumer perspective.

The results show that, creativity, as a combination of novelty and relevance, has the strongest direct and indirect effect on WOM intention. Similarly, surprise factor, the claimed root philosophy of guerrilla marketing, is confirmed when it also impacts directly and indirectly consumer behaviour. Message credibility plays a meaningful mediation role, and through this, message clarity manifests its indirect influence on WOM.

The study supports the belief that guerrilla marketing is suitable for any business because of its effectiveness and efficiency. More significantly, the awareness of Gen Y consumers of the advertisements, with or without knowing that these ads belong to guerrilla advertising, strengthens the expectation that guerrilla marketing in general and guerrilla advertising in particular are recommended choices when they reflect what common marketing and advertising should be.

As fake information has become the norm on the internet, it is important to investigate how skepticism impacts an individual’s attitude toward word-of-mouth (eWOM). This study examines eWOM skepticism via three dimensions: suspicion of motivation, suspicion of truthfulness and suspicion of identity. It investigates not only which of the three dimensions is more influential in eWOM situations but also the variations and relationships among these three. Furthermore, this study evaluates how an individual’s dispositional trust and perceptions regarding structural assurance can impact each dimension, which in turn affects the assessment of the eWOM messages’ credibility.

Using an online scenario-based survey, data were collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk from 195 participants in the U.S. PLS and cluster analysis were used to analyze the data.

The results reveal that the suspicion of identity play a major role in message credibility assessment and that people who are naturally less likely to trust others also hold higher suspicion of motivation and truthfulness. Further, structural assurance has significant negative effects on all three dimensions.

The findings highlight the importance of enhancing the protective measures on eWOM platforms and call for stricter regulations to prevent organizations from adopting deceptive eWOM propagandas.

This research contributes to the literature by exploring the impact of skepticism on eWOM message credibility assessment and helping to validate this newly created construct by considering eWOM skepticism as a formative construct.

The present study aimed to identify the characteristics of effective messages in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) communication on social networks to be considered in the planning of eWOM strategies. For this purpose, the present study tries to identify these factors through a qualitative approach.

A qualitative approach based on the thematic analysis was used with semi-structured interviews and opinions of 25 experts in the field of e-marketing and e-retailing. The collected data were analyzed and coded in the MaxQDA software.

The results of the study showed the extracted seven main themes of message sender specifications, aesthetic appearance, choosing the right content, sending strategy, message usefulness, correct targeting, type of information and also 47 subthemes. These seven criteria provide a way to design the right strategies.

Limited studies in this area were a challenge and also integrating the opinions of the interviewees due to contradictory and different views, as well as unfamiliarity with some new approaches to digital marketing, were among the limitations of the present study that managed and controlled their effects. Practical and theoretical implications for developing and planning effective eWOMs in social networks presented.

Understanding the way of creating appropriate features of effective and suitable messages in the planning of eWOM strategies is crucial to digital marketers. This study recommends considering the extracted features in designing effective messages.

The aim of this study was to address the unmet information needs of Malawian informal carers. We report on a three-year project which we co-created with informal carers, medical doctors and NGOs with the view to disseminate health advisory messages.

This study was developed on the principles of co-production. The impact of our health advisory messaging approach was assessed through observations and questionnaire-based surveys for quality, clarity and usefulness.

The messages were disseminated beyond the local support groups and reached a much wider community via word of mouth. The messages also led to short and medium term benefits for informal carers and their loved ones.

Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the contextual conditions of informal caring and that of co-producing interventions with the people these aim to benefit.

The purpose of this paper is to study the responses of young consumers to suspected covert and overt product-brand recommendations in a blog.

Experimental design was applied to investigate the effect of covert and overt marketing on young consumers’ perceptions of blogger credibility and their behavioural intentions.

Overt marketing had a negative effect on behavioural intentions, such as future interest in the blogger, intention to engage in word-of-mouth, and purchase intention. Covert marketing did not affect the intended behaviour. Neither covert nor overt marketing influenced the blogger’s credibility.

The study was delimited to a small sample; one blog, one type of product recommendation, and a well-known brand. Young, well-educated consumers with experience in reading blogs may be able to filter the brand recommendations and focus on the content of the blog.

This study has implications for bloggers, companies, and policy makers. Although overt marketing is the most open and the recommended form of blog marketing, the study showed that overt marketing has negative effects. Therefore, bloggers need to carefully consider how they present a sponsorship.

The study makes three important contributions. First, it answers the call for research on consumer reactions to covert (deceptive) and overt marketing tactics. Second, it contributes to blog marketing research by studying a case of suspected covert marketing where consumers do not know whether the blog is sponsored or not. Third, the study contributes to knowledge around young consumers, demonstrating that covert and overt tactics do not affect blogger credibility.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to identify the antecedents of brand hate in respect to luxury brand gamification marketing activities.

Five gamified product placements characterized by the ad hoc design of luxury co-branded virtual and/or physical products were selected for the research study. Content analysis was used to identify patterns and classify negative comments shared online into categories.

A content analysis of the negative comments (n. 2,321) related to the perception toward gamification of luxury fashion in videogames revealed the following seven domains: monetization of the game; promotion of inappropriate behavior; unethical placement; games commodified by brands; predatory monetization; perceived incongruence; poor product performance.

The exploratory research study revealed how the perception of gamification activities trigger negative emotions toward luxury fashion brands. It was significant that many of these emotions fall within the antecedents of brand hate.

Luxury companies and game developers need to be aware and manage the antecedents of brand hate in respect to luxury brand gamification activities in videogames. Moreover, luxury brands need to consider customers’ influencing behavior via online word-of-mouth and the potential to impact attitudes and behaviors of other consumers toward brands.

The ethics of gamification within a marketing context have largely escaped inquiry. The study provides evidence that luxury brands need to align the fundamentals of luxury brand management in the digital world of gaming.

Word‐of‐mouth is a powerful communication tool which is often beyond the control of the marketer. This study used a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment in a laboratory simulation to examine the main and interaction effects of three independent variables — message, source and user‐type — on credibility and behavior intention. The experiment involved 1,440 respondents from two different demographic sample groupings — secondary school students and undergraduates. ANOVA results for the experiments showed that, generally, source and user‐type were found to be significant factors affecting the credibility of word‐of‐mouth. In terms of source, father was perceived to be more credible than close friend as a word‐of‐mouth source. Likewise, past users were found to be more credible than non‐past users. Message was, however, found to affect significantly the behavioral intention variable. Negative message was found to generate the strongest negative behavioral intention than positive message and two‐sided messages. Two‐sided message was also found to have a stronger effect than positive message in behavioral intention. In addition, t‐tests results also revealed significant differences in perceptions between the two samples.

This study aims to explore how businesswomen running micro and small enterprises (MSEs) use social media (SM) to engage customers. The study also investigates how SM (vs traditional media) and customer engagement improve business performance.

This qualitative study is based on interviews with businesswomen.

Businesswomen use SM actively but not effectively. SM are used primarily for advertising and promotion. External factors, such as family and friends, are more influential in the decision of women to use SM in business. Women mostly use defensive rather than offensive strategies. Effective use of SM in conjunction with conventional marketing tools can improve customer engagement and increase business performance.

The research findings are valuable for marketing managers, women entrepreneurs and micro and small businesses in making decisions to effectively use SM.

This study investigates customer engagement from the owner/manager’s perspective in contrast to the general customer-centric approach. The study contributes analysing an important and scarcely explored area, which is the use of SM by women-run MSEs in less developed countries to engage consumers.

Este estudio explora cómo las mujeres de negocios que dirigen micro y pequeñas empresas (MSE) utilizan las redes sociales para atraer a los clientes. El estudio también investiga cómo las redes sociales (frente a los medios tradicionales) y la involucración de los clientes mejoran el rendimiento empresarial.

Este estudio cualitativo se basa en entrevistas con mujeres empresarias.

Las mujeres empresarias utilizan las redes sociales de forma activa, pero no eficaz. Las redes sociales se utilizan principalmente para la publicidad y la promoción. Los factores externos, como la familia y los amigos, influyen más en la decisión de las mujeres de utilizar las redes sociales en los negocios. Las empresarias utilizan sobre todo estrategias defensivas en lugar de ofensivas. El uso eficaz de las redes sociales junto con las herramientas de marketing convencionales puede mejorar el compromiso de los clientes y aumentar el rendimiento de la empresa.

Los resultados de la investigación son valiosos para las directivas de marketing, las mujeres empresarias y las micro y pequeñas empresas a la hora de tomar decisiones y para utilizar eficazmente las redes sociales.

Este estudio investiga el compromiso del cliente desde la perspectiva del propietario/gerente en contraste con el enfoque general centrado en el cliente. El estudio contribuye a analizar un área importante y escasamente explorada, que es el uso de las redes sociales por parte de las microempresas dirigidas por mujeres en los países menos desarrollados para involucrar a los consumidores.

本研究探讨了经营微型和小型企业（MSEs）的女商人如何使用社交媒体来吸引客户。该研究还调查了社交媒体（相对于传统媒体）和客户参与如何提高企业绩效。

这项定性研究是基于对女商人的采访。

女商人积极使用社交媒体, 但并非有效。社交媒体主要用于广告和推广。外部因素, 如家庭和朋友, 对妇女在商业中使用社交媒体的决定更有影响力。女性大多使用防御性而非进攻性策略。将社交媒体与传统的营销工具有效地结合起来使用, 可以提高客户的参与度, 增加企业的业绩。

研究结果对营销经理、女企业家和小微企业做出有效使用社交媒体的决定很有价值。

本研究从业主/经理的角度调查了客户参与度, 与一般的以客户为中心的方法不同。该研究有助于分析一个重要的、很少被探索的领域, 即欠发达国家的妇女经营的微型企业使用社交媒体来吸引消费者。

Massive shifts in the recruitment landscape, the continually changing nature of work and workers, and extraordinary technological progress have combined to enable unparalleled advances in how current and prospective employees receive and process information about organizations. Once the domain of internal organizational public relations and human resources (HR) teams, most employment branding has moved beyond organizations’ control. This chapter provides a conceptual framework pertaining to third party employment branding, defined as communications, claims, or status-based classifications generated by parties outside of direct company control that shape, enhance, and differentiate organizations’ images as favorable or unfavorable employers. Specifically, the authors first theorize about the underlying mechanisms by which third party employment branding might signal prospective and current employees. Second, the authors develop a framework whereby we comprehensively review third party employment branding sources, thus identifying the different ways that third party employment branding might manifest. Third, using prototypical examples, the authors link the various signaling mechanisms to the various third party employment branding sources identified. Finally, the authors propose an ambitious future research agenda that considers not only the positive aspects of third party employment branding but also potential “dark sides.” Thus, the authors view this chapter as contributing to the broader employment branding literature, which should enhance scholarly endeavors to study it and practitioner efforts to leverage it.

Domestic violence is a global social and public health problem for which several awareness campaigns have been conducted. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the impact of these campaigns on the population and the process of perception of the messages. In this context, this study aims to analyze the attitudes of individuals toward domestic violence campaigns.

Conducted in Brazil, this research adopted a quantitative approach, using a questionnaire survey with a convenience sample. The conceptual model incorporated three dimensions, namely, the perceived efficacy of the subjects regarding the campaigns, the adopted behavior as a consequence of exposure to the messages and finally, the word of mouth, the recommendation of conduct advised in the campaigns to family and friends. These dimensions were translated into a set of items that integrated the data collection instrument. In the questionnaire, it was intended that the interviewees answered the questions having in mind the campaigns addressed to the Brazilian population with the purpose of prevention for domestic violence, recently released in Brazil.

In a first descriptive analysis, all dimensions obtained positive values. The conceptual model was analyzed, and the hypotheses under study were tested using the partial least squares method. As for convergent and discriminant validity, it was found that each dimension presented adequate internal consistency and, simultaneously, was distinct from the others. The structural model explained 69.2% of the variance of “word of mouth” and 28.5% of the variance of “adopted behavior.” H1 was confirmed, showing a positive influence between perceived efficacy and adopted behavior. H2 was also accepted, and a positive impact of adopted behavior and the intention to recommend to others (word of mouth) was verified.

As a practical contribution, this research allows outlining recommendations for social marketing and communication professionals responsible for awareness campaigns. The results can alert professionals responsible for these campaigns to give visibility to the campaign itself, broadcasting it through mass media, if possible, but also through digital media, such as social networks. In terms of message content, the campaigns should seek behavioral change, leading, on the one hand, the recipients to adopt new behaviors and, on the other hand, to recommend these same behaviors to family and friends, thus multiplying the effect and effectiveness of the campaign.

This study makes an academic contribution, as it directly explores the impact of domestic violence prevention campaigns on the population and can be adapted to campaigns for other social causes. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies on domestic violence campaigns in Brazil, one of the main countries affected by this problem. As a practical contribution, this research allows outlining recommendations for social marketing and communication professionals responsible for awareness campaigns.