eWOM & Referrals in Social Network Services

If a few decades ago the development of the Internet was instrumental in the interconnection between markets, nowadays the services provided by Web 2.0, such as social network sites (SNS) are the cutting edge. A proof of this trend is the exponential growth of social network users. The main objective of this work is to explore the mechanisms that promote the transmission and reception (WOM and referrals) of online opinions, in the context of the SNS, by buyers of travel services. The research includes some research lines: technology acceptance model (TAM), Social Identification Theory and Word-of-Mouth communication in virtual environment (eWOM). Based on these theories an explicative model has been proposed applying SEM analysis to a sample of SNS users’ of tourist service buyers. The results support the majority of the hypotheses and some relevant practical and theoretical implications have been pointed out for tourist managers

S-COMMERCE: HOW TO TURN # INTO $

First it was brick and mortar, then it came Internet and retail went online. Just as retailers became accustomed to possibilities of e-commerce, customers switched to their smartphones and m-commerce was commenced. With web advancement into web 2.0, social media gained new dimension thus enabling the emergence of social commerce or s-commerce. Nowadays, more and more consumers utilize social media in purchasing process, from recognizing the need to actual purchase and post purchase evaluation. Retailer who quickly adopts social media can gain multiple benefits. Moreover, if their target customers are young consumers, s-commerce is no longer an option but a must in order to strengthen their brand, tighten the relationship with customers and enhance sales. The purpose of the paper is to present major opportunities of social media for retailers, introduce the new trend in retailing and outline major drivers of s-commerce. The value of paper lies in numerous managerial implications that contribute to better understanding of the way today’s young consumers shop

Facebook and extension of social ties: Implications on group norms and purchasing behavior

Facebook and extension of social ties: Implications on group norms and purchasing behavio

Internet-induced marketing techniques: Critical factors in viral marketing campaigns

The rapid diffusion of the Internet and the emergence of various social constructs facilitated by Internet technologies are changing the drivers that define how marketing techniques are developed and refined. This paper identifies critical factors for viral marketing, an Internet-based ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing technique. Based on existing knowledge, five types of viral marketing factors that may critically influence the success of viral marketing campaigns are identified. These factors are the overall structure of the campaign, the characteristics of the product or service, the content of the message, the characteristics of the diffusion and, the peer-to-peer information conduit. The paper discusses three examples of viral marketing campaigns and identifies the specific factors in each case that influence its success. The paper concludes with a viral marketing typology differentiating between viral marketing communications, unintended viral marketing and commercial viral marketing. This is still a rapidly evolving area and further research is clearly needed to monitor new developments and make sense of the radical changes these developments bring to the market

Does the Source Matter? How Referral Channels and Personal Communication Tools Affect Consumers’ Referral Propensity

Many companies are using social sharing buttons to make it easier for consumers to refer a website or app to other potential consumers. Although these buttons are ubiquitous online, it remains unclear whether consumer referral propensity (i.e. the likelihood of consumers referring other consumers) varies across the channels through which consumers arrive at the website. In particular, we test whether referral propensity is higher for consumers themselves acquired through social referrals and compare them with consumers accessing the website through other commonly used channels, such as search engines and online advertisements. In addition, we examine whether the communication tool (i.e. social networking websites or instant messaging clients) through which the referral is transmitted affects consumers’ referral decisions. Our results indicate that consumers acquired through social referrals are more likely to make a referral and that the communication tools do not differ in their influence on consumers’ referral propensity.

Exploring emotional expressions in e-word-of-mouth from online communities

Electronic word-of-mouth communication (eWOM) is an important force in building a digital marketplace. The study of eWOM has implications for how to build an online community through social media design, web communication and knowledge exchange. Innovative use of eWOM has significant benefits, especially for start-up firms. We focus on how users on the web communicate value related to online products. It is the premise of this paper that generating emotional value (E-value) in social media and networking sites (SMNS) is critical for the survival of new e-service ventures. Hence, by introducing a formal value theory as a coding scheme, we report a study on E-value in SMNS by analyzing how a Swedish start-up industrial design company attempted to build a global presence by creating followers on the web. The aim of the study was to investigate how the company\u27s website design and communication can affect eWOM over time. This was done by capturing a series of “emoticon and value expressions” generated by community members from three different e-communication campaigns (2011–2012) with changing website content, hence giving different stimuli to viewers. Those members who expressed emotional value, often incorporating emoticons, displayed both shorter verbal expressions and reaction time. These value expressions, we suggest, are important aspects of eWOM and need to be actively taken into account. The study has implications for information management strategies through using eWOM. © 2016 Elsevier Lt

Zentrale Determinanten sozialer Beeinflussung und wesentliche Wirkungszusammenhänge mit Blick auf konsumentenseitige Wahrnehmungs- und Verhaltensprozesse

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Local Popularity: A Double-edged Tool in Platform Operation

Although displaying local popularity is wildly adopted by major platforms, the actual effect of such information cues on motivating users has not been documented. Findings from a field experiment suggest that local popularity effectively motivates users to invite more friends but surprisingly reduces users’ self-participation. Social conformity theory may account for such effects: local information encourages users to invite their local friends, but such effect is limited to users from small cities since users in a relatively small community are more bonded and less likely to reject the invitation due to social pressure. Meanwhile, local information attenuates the power of popularity (e.g., fewer registered users in the local area) and ultimately discourages users\u27 self-participation. This study deepens our understanding of displaying popularity cue in improving platform operation, based on which we suggest that practitioners should be cautious about the persuasive power of such information cues in location-based marketing