• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.29-43
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• 2015

Word-of-Mouth (WOM), which is the unpaid spread of a positive marketing message from person to person, has been shown to be even more effective in influencing purchase decisions than traditional advertising channels. The effects of WOM might be different by types of persuaders (purchasers vs. non-purchasers), however, the current body of research has not given attention to the differential effects of WOM. This study focuses on whether or not potential customers are influenced by the WOM from non-purchasers as well as from purchasers, and it investigates if the impacts of WOM from non-purchasers are different with those from purchasers. Based on conjoint analyses, it concludes that potential customers are affected by the communication with non-purchasers as well as with purchasers but the impacts of non-purchasers are not greater than those of purchasers.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.49-63
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• 2020

Purpose - This study aims to assess six aspects of resident satisfaction (satisfaction with room, home, social interaction, meals service, staff care, and resident involvement) and to identify the most influential aspect of satisfaction upon word-of-mouth (WOM) intention in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC). Design/methodology/approach - A total of 293 paper survey questionnaires with a cover letter and postage paid envelopes were mailed to the CCRC residents. To test reliability and validity of the multidimensional resident satisfaction, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used. Then, the structural equation modeling technique (SEM) was applied to test causal relationship between resident satisfaction and WOM intention. Multiple regression was used to identify the most influential aspect of resident satisfaction on WOM intention in the CCRC. Findings - The results of EFA and CFA on the 157 responses received out of the total 293 surveys indicated that six dimensions of resident satisfaction were statistically distinct. Among the six dimensions, satisfaction with resident involvement, social interaction, and staff care significantly influenced their WOM intention. Furthermore, the most influential aspect of satisfaction upon WOM intention was resident involvement. Research implications or Originality - This study empirically tested the six dimensions of CCRC resident satisfaction, and identified resident involvement as the most influential factor upon WOM intention in a CCRC where WOM intentions plays a crucial role during the selection process of prospective residents.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.3-14
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• 2014

Online communities are an important source of electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM), however few studies have examined these types of messages within the Middle Eastern context. This study focuses on Kuwaiti women as members of an online beauty forum; previous work has suggested a mediating effect of gender with women being more likely to trust and follow-up word-of-mouth with a purchase. A conceptual model, based on existing theoretical contributions, provides the basis of a coding framework for the message characteristics that influence members' eWOM adoption. A sub-set of the analysis is presented: 218 threads (1820 messages, coded into 6702 units) illustrating cases where eWOM was adopted and thereby demonstrating continuance intention with members returning to the forum. Content analysis revealed the prevalence of emotional aspects in messages, coded into a new category of 'community bonding'. Findings show that emotion expressed in messages is as influential and important as cognitive aspects of argument quality.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.341-348
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to fill gaps in emerging empirical evidence and negative electronic word of mouth (NeWOM) in repurchase intention (RI) moderated by the roles of social network sites (SNS) and company mitigation response (CMR). This type of research is descriptive. The sample used in this study is online consumers who buy energy drinks, based on the questionnaire obtained by 145 respondents. Based on the results of testing the estimation of the structural equation model, it was found that the negative variable brand experience sharing had no significant effect on NeWOM; the negative variable electronic reviews had a significant effect on the electronic word of mouth variable, the negative variable electronic reviews had a significant effect on the negative electronic variable word of mouth, the variable intensity of the use of social networking sites can strengthen the direction of the causal influence between the negative variables sharing brand experiences on negative electronic words of mouth. The variable social networking sites usage intensity can strengthen the direction of the effect of causality between negative electronic review variables on negative electronic word of mouth, the negative brand experience sharing variable does not have a significant effect on the repurchase intention variable.

• Proceedings of the CALSEC Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.155-160
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• 2005

This study identified online information characteristics and investigated the effects of information characteristics on word of mouth performance in online environment. And the comsumer knowledge was found to be a moderator of the relationship between information characteristics and WOM performance in online environment. The implication of this work to both researchers and practitioners were discussed.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.227-240
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• 2012

Given the prevalence of internet and web 2.0, SNS(Social Network Service) market is growing rapidly. IT providers which focused marketing point on network hub have become to disseminate SNS mainly now. Many users are using the various functions of SNS to communicate each other or share the information. At this point, identifying the influencing factors to WOM(Word-Of-Mouth) of SNS is very important. In this paper, we aim to examine the effects of perceived variables on the WOM of SNS. In order to analyze the antecedents, we selected perceived factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived easiness, perceived enjoyment and perceived crowd. For statistical analysis, we surveyed real users of SNS. As a result, all antecedents of WOM showed significant influence and among the variables the perceived enjoyment has top standardized coefficient. In addition, perceived crowd has significant on perceived easiness, perceived enjoyment but not on perceived usefulness. The result of this research can be useful guidelines to increase SNS Market.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.139-155
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• 2017

As social media are increasingly being used as a marketing platform, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has also become popular in both research and business areas. However, although many studies have examined the effect of eWOM, the products investigated in most of these studies, such as films or books, are not likely to be consumed daily. Therefore, in this study, we analyze the effect of eWOM on low involvement products, which are inexpensive and enough for everyday spending. Given that low involvement products have unique characteristics such as low price, we conduct an experiment using a real sales dataset related to soft drinks. We also analyze the effect of eWOM in two social media platforms. We find that eWOM influences the sales of low involvement products, but such influence is dependent on the characteristic of the social media platform. Based on these results, we suggest that marketers and retailers selling low involvement products must consider eWOM, such as reviews, and differentiate their strategies based on their focused social media platform.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 2013

Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication (traditionally important in consumption) is expanding its influence into cyber space and is playing an important role in online shopping. Consumers who use online shopping might not readily make purchasing decisions due to information overload, lack of accurate product recognition, and the distrust of commercial information. Subsequently, people use WOM communication for a mutual interchange with others who share common concerns, interests, and purposes. This study examines the consumer characteristics, perceived risk on online shopping and benefits of online shopping according to WOM behavior that may significantly affect consumer actions. Factor analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, cluster analysis, and Chi-square analysis were used for statistical analysis to identify the differences in consumer characteristics. Online WOM behavior consumers purchased more various items than offline WOM behavior consumers; however, the most influential purchasing factor was price regardless of WOM behavior. Offline WOM behavior consumers have shown higher perceived online shopping risks and benefits.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.143-164
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• 2010

Although word-of-mouth (WOM) has been regarded as one of the very important topics in consumer research, its effects on other aspects of consumer behavior have been scarcely investigated in the context of health-care service industry. The WOM literature also suggests that it is essential for medical care service organizations in fierce competition to adopt WOM communication as a competitive weapon so as to be able to stay ahead of competition. The goal of this research was set to empirically study various relationships between antecedent variables, WOM acceptance, and purchase of medical care services. Specifically, drawing on the WOM literature, eight antecedents to WOM acceptance were selected first. Based on the relevant literature, seven sets of hypotheses on the relationships among antecedents to WOM, WOM acceptance, purchase intention and purchase of medical services were developed. Data were collected via an on-line survey. A total of 571 out of 600 responses turned out to be usable. The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows: First, 6 out of 8 antecedent variables to WOM acceptance were found to be positively affect WOM acceptance. However, the effects of (1) "newness of technology" pertaining to medical care service characteristics and (2) "involvement in health", one of receiver characteristics, were found to be insignificant. Second, most moderating effects on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services were found to be insignificant with one exception. That is, elapse of time was found to be a marginally significant moderator on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services. Third, it was found that the higher the WOM acceptance, the higher the purchase intention of medical care services. Finally, the effect of WOM acceptance was found to be particularly strong when WOM contents were perceived as useful and positive. Overall, it seems essential for hospitals to actively adopt WOM communication as a competitive marketing tool if they plan to improve their business performance. In this respect, the current study may serve to improve the business performance of hospitals by way of providing theoretical and empirical evidence on the effects of WOM communication variables on WOM acceptance and medical care service purchase.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.606-618
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• 2010

The study investigated how 'word of mouth' originates in the chain restaurant industry. It has long been acknowledged that 'word of mouth' is a critical factor for the success of a restaurant business due to its targetability and cost effectiveness. A review of the literature revealed four antecedents of 'word of mouth': service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and relationship quality. Based on the theoretical/empirical relationships between those constructs, a structural model composed of the hypotheses was proposed. The structural model was tested with data collected from 471 chain restaurant patrons. The structural equation modeling analysis revealed that five constructs in the proposed model are interrelated, and during this process, word of mouth is formed in the chain restaurant industry. A positive relationship between service quality and satisfaction (0.265, p<0.05), service quality and perceived value (0.831, p<0.05), service quality and relationship quality (0.465, p< 0.05), and service quality and WOM (0.263, p< 0.05) were found, indicating that service quality is a key prerequisite for word of mouth and other constructs proposed in the model. It was revealed that perceived value doe not have a direct impact on WOM formation (t=1.275, p=0.202), but a positive relationship between perceived value and satisfaction (0.293, p<0.05) and between satisfaction and WOM (0.627, p< 0.05) were found. Therefore, it was concluded that patrons' perceived value influences word of mouth formation, but that impact is mediated by satisfaction. During this process, relationship quality also plays a mediating role in generating word of mouth. Based on data analysis, theoretical/managerial implications are discussed.