Please, talk about it! When hotel popularity boosts preferences

Many consumers post on-line reviews, affecting the average evaluation of products and services. Yet, little is known about the importance of the number of reviews for consumer decision making. We conducted an on-line experiment (n= 168) to assess the joint impact of the average evaluation, a measure of quality, and the number of reviews, a measure of popularity, on hotel preference. The results show that consumers' preference increases with the number of reviews, independently of the average evaluation being high or low. This is not what one would expect from an informational point of view, and review websites fail to take this pattern into account. This novel result is mediated by demographics: young people, and in particular young males, are less affected by popularity, relying more on quality. We suggest the adoption of appropriate ranking mechanisms to fit consumer preferences. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Word of Mouth, the Importance of Reviews and Ratings in Tourism Marketing

The Internet and social media have given place to what is commonly known as the democratization of content and this phenomenon is changing the way that consumers and companies interact. Business strategies are shifting from influencing consumers directly and induce sales to mediating the influence that Internet users have on each other. A consumer review is “a mixture of fact and opinion, impression and sentiment, found and unfound tidbits, experiences, and even rumor” (Blackshaw & Nazarro, 2006). Consumers' comments are seen as honest and transparent, but it is their subjective perception what shapes the behavior of other potential consumers. With the emergence of the Internet, tourists search for information and reviews of destinations, hotels or services. Several studies have highlighted the great influence of online reputation through reviews and ratings and how it affects purchasing decisions by others (Schuckert, Liu, & Law, 2015). These reviews are seen as unbiased and trustworthy, and considered to reduce uncertainty and perceived risks (Gretzel & Yoo, 2008; Park & Nicolau, 2015). Before choosing a destination, tourists are likely to spend a significant amount of time searching for information including reviews of other tourists posted on the Internet. The average traveler browses 38 websites prior to purchasing vacation packages (Schaal, 2013), which may include tourism forums, online reviews in booking sites and other generic social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

An Exploratory Study into the Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption

Although consumers are increasingly engaged with ethical factors when forming opinions about products and making purchase decisions, recent studies have highlighted significant differences between consumers’ intentions to consume ethically, and their actual purchase behaviour. This article contributes to an understanding of this “ethical purchasing gap” through a review of existing literature, and the inductive analysis of focus group discussions. A model is suggested which includes exogenous variables such as moral maturity and age which have been well covered in the literature, together with further impeding factors identified from the focus group discussions. For some consumers, inertia in purchasing behaviour was such that the decision-making process was devoid of ethical considerations. Several manifested their ethical views through post-purchase dissonance and retrospective feelings of guilt. Others displayed a reluctance to consume ethically due to personal constraints, a perceived negative impact on image or quality, or an outright negation of responsibility. Those who expressed a desire to consume ethically often seemed deterred by cynicism, which caused them to question the impact they, as an individual, could achieve. These findings enhance the understanding of ethical consumption decisions and provide a platform for future research in this area

Transfer of brand knowledge in business-to-business markets: A qualitative study

This is the author's accepted manuscript (under the provisional title "Transfer of brand knowlede in business-to-business markets by brand when personified as a human: A qualitative study"). The final published article is available from the link below. This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8377). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Purpose – This paper presents the approach of a one-to-one relationship for branding in business-to-business markets. With qualitative evidence, the paper seeks to clarify the links between branding, relationship marketing and purchase intention of resellers and to discuss the contribution of brand personified as brand representatives to the brand knowledge of resellers. The aim of this paper is to understand how this transfer of knowledge by brand personified as representatives of the brand is reflected in the selection process of brand for resale by resellers. Design/methodology/approach – The theory is used to develop a testable model. Information from the field was gathered through 12 in-depth interviews of brand managers of international IT brands. These interviews helped to give a deeper insight into the topic and contributed to the categorization of different themes to be developed into constructs. Components that emerged from the interviews were from different disciplines and were useful in making linkages between these disciplines. Findings – Interviewees associated the role of brand personified (as brand representative) as a conduit between brand and resellers. Given the findings, brand when personified as a human can be used to manage reseller relationships in a business-to-business network. The brand personified with its metaphorical properties enables the resellers not only to clearly understand brand-related information but also to make positive evaluations about the brand. Empirical research would be helpful to establish the indicators of brand personification and to enhance the understanding of the concept. Practical implications – The study will be useful for senior managers of brands operating in competitive and complex business-to-business networks. It will enable them to use the categories and components to ensure that their brand is the preferred brand for resellers operating in the network. Originality/value – The approach will be helpful in linking different functions of the organization to measure the contribution made by employees representing the brand to resellers in competitive markets by imparting knowledge about the brand to resellers

The impact of emotionally negative online reviews on consumer purchase intentions

Online reviews are an important factor influencing consumers\u27 purchasing decisions. However, there is no literature to explore the mechanism of emotional negative online reviews on consumer purchasing behavior. The research results enrich the theory of user information behavior, and have practical significance for merchants\u27 precision marketing and customer relationship management. Based on ELM theory and regulation focus theory, using the method of situational experiment, from the two paths of peripheral situation perception and core cognitive processing, explore the influence of regulation focus on consumer purchase intention under the stimulation of emotional negative online reviews effect. The research results show that: under the stimulus of negative emotional online reviews, prevention of targeted consumers is mainly affected by the emotional arousal of the edge path, and positively affects purchase intention through emotional response; promotion of targeted consumers is mainly affected by the perception of the central path The influence of effort positively affects purchase intention through cognitive response; among them, emotional response has a greater leading role in purchase intention

The Impact of Electronic Word of Mouth (E-WoM) on Brand Equity of Imported Shoes: Does a Good Online Brand Equity Result in High Customers' Involvements in Purchasing Decisions?

. In the fourth industrial revolution, technology plays a greater role in influencing customers' preferences towards certain brands. Internet and social media platform has become a powerful marketing tool for sharing relatable experiences among customers online. The objective of this research was to investigate the role of Electronic Word of Mouth (EWOM) on Brand Equity and its impact on Purchasing Decision of Imported Shoes in Bekasi, Indonesia. This research used primary data by distributing questionnaires to 162 customers of imported shoes. The data of this research was analyzed through SPSS and the hypotheses were tested by employing Binomial Logistic Regression. The result of this research suggested that E-WOM has a positive impact on all dimensions of Brand Equity and a good online Brand Equity generates high customers' involvements in purchasing decisions. The highest influencer towards Purchasing Decision was Brand Awareness; whereas the least influencing variable was Perceived Quality

THE CREDIBILITY OF CONSUMER REVIEWS ON THREE E-COMMERCE IN INDONESIA: MIXED METHOD APPROACH

Online stores with more than 3000 reviews have made it difficult for consumers to find reviews that can be used as the main source of information to decide on a purchase. This research aims to investigate the credibility of reviews that consumers can be trusted. This research used mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) through sequential explanation. In this quantitative study, 300 respondents were collected using a voluntary sampling technique, and 900 reviews from three e-commerce sites in Indonesia were selected purposely. The qualitative approach used in-depth interviews with three consumers and a selected seller using a purposive sampling technique. The data was processed by multiple linear regression and descriptive using SPSS 25.0 and Nvivo 12. Research results confirmed that the motivation to read reviews and consumer attitudes toward reviews significantly affect online purchasing decisions, but a third of consumers still rarely provide reviews. Furthermore, based on source credibility, E-WOM quality, and recommendation rating, in the three e-commerce sites, almost half of the reviews studied were hard to be trusted. Based on these findings, this research summarizes the policy implications for consumers and governments and suggests future research

THE CREDIBILITY OF CONSUMER REVIEWS ON THREE E-COMMERCE IN INDONESIA: MIXED METHOD APPROACH

Online stores with more than 3000 reviews have made it difficult for consumers to find reviews that can be used as the main source of information to decide on a purchase. This research aims to investigate the credibility of reviews that consumers can be trusted. This research used mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) through sequential explanation. In this quantitative study, 300 respondents were collected using a voluntary sampling technique, and 900 reviews from three e-commerce sites in Indonesia were selected purposely. The qualitative approach used in-depth interviews with three consumers and a selected seller using a purposive sampling technique. The data was processed by multiple linear regression and descriptive using SPSS 25.0 and Nvivo 12. Research results confirmed that the motivation to read reviews and consumer attitudes toward reviews significantly affect online purchasing decisions, but a third of consumers still rarely provide reviews. Furthermore, based on source credibility, E-WOM quality, and recommendation rating, in the three e-commerce sites, almost half of the reviews studied were hard to be trusted. Based on these findings, this research summarizes the policy implications for consumers and governments and suggests future research

The Effect of Social EWOM on Consumers’ Behaviour Patterns in the Fashion Sector

The study described in this chapter aimed to enhance knowledge on the influence of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on consumer’s decision-making processes. eWOM emerged as a key driver in consumers’ decision-making processes given its greater impact on purchasing decisions compared to other communication channels. Specifically, the study focused on the reviews of fashion products on social networks (SNs) and built on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model in order to identify the determinants of social eWOM adoption and intention to buy the reviewed product. The survey method was used to gather data from 230 Italian consumers. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the model proposed. Results revealed that when consumers seek information on fashion products, the user-friendliness of SNs and social cues (homophily and normative social influence) positively impact social eWOM (opinion-seeking), which in turn influences the intention to purchase the reviewed products. The study contributes both theoretically and empirically to the understanding of the role of social eWOM in influencing consumer behaviour. At the theoretical level, it supports the adequacy of the S-O-R model for explaining the consumer decision-making process in the context of social eWOM. From a managerial perspective, the findings highlight the importance of taking into consideration both structural (accessibility) and social relationship variables while developing social media marketing strategies

Consumers pnline: Intentions, orientations and segmentation

Purpose – This paper examines the purchase intentions of online retail consumers, segmented by their purchase orientation. Design/methodology/approach – An e-mail/web survey was addressed to a consumer panel concerning their online shopping experiences and motivations, n = 396. Findings – It is empirically shown that consumer purchase orientations have no significant effect on their propensity to shop online. This contradicts the pervasive view that Internet consumers are principally motivated by convenience. It was found that aspects that do have a significant effect on purchase intention are prior purchase and gender. Research limitations/implications – There are two limitations. First, the sample contained only UK Internet users, thus generalisations about the entire population of Internet users may be questionable. Second, in our measurement of purchase intentions, we did not measure purchase intent per se. Practical implications – These findings indicate that consumer purchase orientations in both the traditional world and on the Internet are largely similar. Therefore, both academics and businesses are advised to treat the Internet as an extension to existing traditional activities brought about by advances in technology, i.e. the multi-channel approach. Originality/value – The paper adds to the understanding of the purchase orientations of different clusters of e-consumer