Search Results (46)

In recent years, the growing number of Online Travel Review (OTR) platforms and advances in social media and search engine technologies have led to a new way of accessing information for tourists, placing projected Tourist Destination Image (TDI) and electronic Word of Mouth (eWoM) at the heart of travel decision-making. This research introduces a big data-driven approach to analyzing and measuring the perceived and conveyed TDI in OTRs concerning the reflected perceptive, spatial, and affective dimensions of search results. To test this approach, a massive metadata analysis of search engine was conducted on approximately 2700 reviews from TripAdvisor users for the category “Attractions” of the city of Kastoria, Greece. Using artificial intelligence, an analysis of the photos accompanying user comments on TripAdvisor was performed. Based on the results, we created five themes for the image narratives, depending on the focus of interest (monument, activity, self, other person, and unknown) in which the content was categorized. The results obtained allow us to extract information that can be used in business intelligence applications. Full article

This study investigates the impacts of the Big Five personality traits and propensity to trust on the use and writing of online reviews. Additionally, this study examines how gender moderates these impacts. Results of a survey (n = 840) show that openness to experience and conscientiousness positively influence online review use, while openness to experience and extraversion positively influence online review writing. Moreover, gender moderates the impacts of extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness on online review writing, with no moderating effect observed for online review use. Our findings contribute to the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) literature and offer important practical insights for eWOM platforms. Full article

A growing body of the literature on the study of online reviews presents interesting research opportunities, especially in services highly frequented by young consumer segments, such as restaurants. In this context, the present study examines the restaurant electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) behavior of Millennial consumers by addressing both review queries before the purchase decision and writing and sending after the purchase. Based on the theory of reasoned action, a double objective is pursued. On the one hand, the influence of motivations related to extroversion, social benefits, and altruism on EWOM sending behavior is analyzed. On the other hand, the moderating role of EWOM consultation in these relationships is studied. Using a sample of 341 Millennials from Ecuador, a structural model is constructed that confirms the contribution of two types of motivations in sending EWOM: those of extroversion and those of social benefits. The results also reveal the moderating role of EWOM consultation alone in the effects of extraversion and altruism motivations. Managerial implications for restaurants derived from this study include improvements in the design of digital communication strategies tailored to Millennial customers based on their motivations. Full article

The growing number of online users commenting on review platforms has fueled the development of electronic word–of–mouth (eWOM). At the same time, merchants have improved their requirements for the length and frequency of online reviews. However, few studies have examined the updating mechanism of online reviews length and frequency from the perspective of businesses. This study explores the relationship between online commenting platform users and eWOM and examines how eWOM information richness affects online user review behavior. We used media richness theory (MRT) to quantify the information richness of eWOM content (linguistic, textual, and photographical) to build an empirical framework. For the research data, we used advanced big data analytics to retrieve and analyze TripAdvisor data on restaurant services in nine major tourist destinations, the United States, Mexico, and mainland Europe (including UK, Spain, Netherlands, etc.), over a long period of time. Based on >10 million eWOM, this study used multiple regression to examine the impact of eWOM information richness on online user review behavior, considering the moderating effect of information ambiguity. Our research results show that content information richness positively affects online user review behavior, increasing their frequency and length. Information ambiguity play a moderating role that strengthens this relationship. This supports our theoretical hypothesis. Finally, for greater applicability and reliability, we conducted a comparative study on the degree of differences in the relationship between eWOM and users based on different cultural backgrounds across countries. Full article

Given the exponential growth of eWOM, especially among the millennial generation, an analysis of the consultation behaviour of online opinions is essential to better understanding the decision-making process. The aim of this proposal is to analyse how the motivations towards eWOM consultation contribute to the final adoption of eWOM, especially in the restaurant context, exploring the relationship chain “motivations to consult eWOM—intention to consult eWOM—adoption to consult eWOM”. Moreover, studying the moderating effect of gender in this chain is argued. Based on a sample of 341 millennials with experience in reading online reviews and visiting restaurants, a causal model was estimated through PLS estimation in the geographic area of Ecuador. The results confirm that millennials’ motivations influence directly their intention to consult eWOM and indirectly on eWOM adoption. In addition, gender does not show a significant effect on the chain of effects. Given that virtual platforms have the potential to influence men and women equally, the communication efforts of restaurants focused on this target audience and carried out on social media must focus on aspects other than gender. Full article

Online streaming contents are creating greater service uncertainty, as consumers need to experience such contents before making a decision to continue to purchase them. Few studies have investigated the interaction between eWOM (online word-of-mouth) and online streaming content service characteristics with regard to the performance of online streaming contents and explained how this interaction can promote the role of service characteristics in service performance outcomes or remedy service uncertainty attributable to these characteristics. Thus, in order to test the interaction effects, this paper examines the moderating effects of service (webtoon) characteristics (i.e., author experience, genre (drama or fantasy), completion, transfer to paid service, and publication time (Wednesday)) on the relationship between eWOM and certain online streaming contents’ service performance measures; in this case, the publication period and content gamification. Based on scrawled data from 154 webtoons published on Naver Webtoon, a multivariate regression analysis with interaction terms showed that author experience and genre interact with the number of reviews to affect gamification. The transfer to a paid service interacts crucially with review ratings and the number of reviews to influence both the publication period and gamification. Online streaming content completion and publication times are factors that interact with review ratings and thus affect the publication period. Service providers need to cope with service uncertainties when attempting to further their online streaming content service by considering the service characteristics as well as customers’ responses through eWOM. Full article

This research tests the relationship between aspects of customer influenceability at the time of booking a hotel with the propensity to write a review in electronic word-of-mouth communication. A valid sample of 739 online questionnaires was obtained. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted in order to reduce the dimensions of the two critical variables, and a measurement model was built. Then a Path analysis was carried out. The novelty of this research lies in measuring the evolution from being a passive eWOM reader to a proactive eWOM writer. Results indicate a relationship between being influenced by reading reviews and the propensity to write reviews. The most important underlying motivation to write a review is altruistic. Managers should try to identify the most responsive customers and encourage them to write reviews on altruistic grounds. This study effectively validated the impact of being responsive to reading reviews on the inclination to, in turn, write them. Findings contribute to the evolving research landscape in eWOM within the hospitality and tourism sector, offering practical insights for industry practitioners to formulate more effective strategies in soliciting and managing customer reviews. Full article

The ornamental plant is one of the important horticultural commodities in Indonesia, but its development differs from that of other horticultural commodities, such as vegetable and fruit plants. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing since early 2020, apart from having an impact on health, has also positively impacted the ornamental plant business in Indonesia. Home confinement caused certain physiological problems that could be solved by indoor gardening activity, leading to an increase in the demand for ornamental plants, especially for leafy ornamental plants. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the growth of the ornamental production business in Indonesia in terms of psychological needs and the power of social media. There was an increase in ornamental prices due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Consumer preferences and behaviors were also altered by the pandemic, as indicated by consumers’ new motivations, perceptions, learning, and belief systems regarding ornamental plants. The government has launched several strategies to gain domestic competitiveness and maintain its sustainability in the environment. Digital transformation has been applied by ornamental plant businesses in Indonesia. The digital marketing of ornamental plants relies on social media concepts such as entertainment, customization, interactions, electronic word of mouth (EWOM), and trendiness. Full article

Entrepreneurship is the readiness and ability of an organization, primarily a new business, to develop, organize, and conduct its business to make a profit despite uncertainties. Social commerce (s-commerce) assists consumers to buy products online. However, few studies have investigated the influence of entrepreneurship and online platform capability on consumers’ online purchase decisions. Academicians, researchers, and practitioners are also increasingly interested in understanding how the s-commerce environment influences entrepreneurship and online purchase decisions. Against this background, this study set out to examine this phenomenon. Using information adoption models and contagion theory as well as the input from the literature review, a theoretical model was developed. Such a model was tested with a factor-based PLS-SEM approach by analyzing the responses of 342 respondents. The results find that electronic WOM (e-WOM) credibility, predicted by online e-WOM content and platform credibility, and impacted by online reputation, could significantly influence consumers’ online purchase decisions. The study also finds that both positive and negative valance of eWOM as well as entrepreneurship significantly influence eWOM credibility, which in turn positively influences consumers’ purchase decisions when using online platforms. Full article

Programmatic advertising uses big data to spread personalized marketing materials to target audiences, which is a major driving force for the growth of digital advertising. Among them, in-application advertisements (in-app ads) are an important part of programmatic advertising. In in-app advertising, which is highly related to application revenue, ads are delivered to customers through mobile devices at any time and place based on personal needs. Due to the power of electronic Word-of-Mouth (e-WOM), text comments from social media are becoming a new mode of advertising, influencing consumers’ purchase behavior. Text reviews on social media are more powerful than traditional ads. However, relatively little research has studied this issue. Therefore, using text mining and latent semantic analysis techniques, we aimed to discover the advertising elements of text reviews in the social community. Based on the results, suggestions were made to advertising companies to improve the performance of text reviews when employing key opinion leaders (KOL) to write commercial comments that promote products or services. Full article

In recent years, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has greatly impacted the hotel industry, as social media and online review platforms have given customers many opportunities to share their personal experiences with other individuals. Hence, this study aimed to empirically investigate several relationships within the setting of five-star eco-friendly hotels in Saudi Arabia. These included: (1) the direct impact of perceived quality (PQ), positive emotional experience (PEE), and customer satisfaction (CS) on promoting positive eWOM; (2) the potential intermediary role of CS in the connections between PQ, PEE, and eWOM; (3) the direct influence of eWOM on intention to revisit (ITR); and (4) the potential intermediary role of eWOM in the PQ–ITR, CS–ITR, and PEE–ITR relationships. To achieve these objectives, an online questionnaire was developed and directed to a sample of Saudi individuals who have stayed in five-star eco-friendly hotels, particularly in Riyadh City. Based on their previous interactions with these hotels on the TripAdvisor website during the last six months and their willingness to participate in the field study, a convenience sampling technique was utilized to select participants for data collection. The study mainly focused on Saudi individuals to investigate their behaviors and attitudes toward eco-friendly hotels, which have been considered a growing trend in the country in recent years. Participants were emailed individually, and a total of 423 acceptable forms were gathered and subjected to analysis using the PLS-SEM method. The research’s findings revealed that PQ had the strongest predictive power for promoting positive eWOM, leading to a greater increase in ITR than PEE and CS. Moreover, the study identified the significant mediating influence of CS in exploring how PEE and PQ contribute to customers’ intention to spread positive eWOM. Additionally, the results showed the substantial role of eWOM in mediating the relationships between PQ, PEE, CS, and ITR. Based on these findings, the study suggests practical implications for hotel operators and marketers looking to promote positive eWOM and increase revisit intentions. Full article

Understanding the relationships within product co-purchasing is crucial for designing effective cross-selling and recommendation systems in e-commerce. While researchers often detect co-purchase rules based on product attributes, this study explores the influence of consumer behavior preferences and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on co-purchase formation by analyzing the topological network structure of products. Data were collected from a major Chinese e-retailer and analyzed using an exponential random graph model (ERGM) to identify the factors affecting the formation of follow-up purchases between products: the role of topological structure, product category, and online product reviews. The results showed that the co-purchase network was a sparse small-world network, with a product degree of centrality that positively impacted its sales volume within the network, suggesting a concentration effect. Cross-category purchases significantly contribute to the formation of co-purchase relationships, with a differential homophily effect. Positive ratings and review volumes were found to be key factors impacting this co-purchase formation. In addition, a higher inconsistency of positive ratings among products decreases the likelihood of co-purchase. These findings contribute to the literature on eWOM and electronic networks, and have valuable implications for e-commerce managers. Full article

Recent research reflects the assessment of customer satisfaction from different perspectives, an important aspect in all sectors that must be expressed in measurable parameters of organization performance. By reviewing the literature, we noticed the lack of a specific indicator to quantify the tripartite relation: customer satisfaction—employee performance—company performance. Therefore, based on Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma methods, the paper introduces an innovative measurement tool named the Spc indicator (The Assessment System of Employee Performance according to Customer Satisfaction) and the related implementation methodology (named ITA). The aim of the paper is to implement an innovative tool to improve the efficiency of employee performance assessment systems in relation to company performance in services and industry sectors through customer satisfaction assessment. By using AR and VR as implementation technologies, our present results extend and compare the results from other pilot research made by authors in the e-commerce sector. The results point out that mystery shoppers and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) applied in e-commerce are more efficient than AR and VR technologies applied in services and industry, as reflected in the company’s performance. Furthermore, customer–employee interactions and communications with eWOM in e-commerce are more efficient than WOM used in services and industry. This paper contains both theoretical and practical contributions by offering a new, short-time innovative tool for the continuous improvement of the company with applications in different fields. Full article

Confirmation biases make consumers feel comfortable because consistent beliefs simplify the processing of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Whether the helpfulness of eWOM is a belief of information underlying biased information, i.e., positive–negative asymmetry, or an illusion of overconfidence underlying biased judgment, i.e., belief consistency, is crucial to the foundation of theory and the advance of practice in user-generated persuasion. The questions challenge the literature that the helpfulness of product reviews relies on unbiased information and/or unbiased judgment. Drawing on the cognitive-information lens, we developed a research model to explain how belief consistency affects the helpfulness beliefs of eWOM, and examined the effects of positive–negative asymmetry. Using a scenario-based questionnaire survey, we collected 334 consumer samples to test the research model. According to the empirical results, the conflicts of influence between positive and negative confirmation indicated that perceived review helpfulness was a belief of information and constrained by the positive–negative review frame. Without using personal expertise, respondents’ consistent beliefs were significant to confirm positive reviews as useful and thereby perceive the review content as helpful, which is an illusion of overconfidence and constrained by belief consistency. Whether personal expertise reinforces the effect of belief consistency depends on the positive–negative asymmetry. Full article

Human beings are strongly influenced by their emotions; so, it is believed that building a close relationship between consumers and brands is a key factor for success. In this way, car brands are no exception, and despite facing numerous challenges associated with the energy transition, they have to reinvent themselves, retaining a focus on offering a unique and personalized experience for the consumer without forgetting the factors that influence the decision-making process. Therefore, current research aims to understand the relationship between brand love and other behavioral constructs, including brand attachment, brand satisfaction, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth, as well as its influence on consumer behavior in the Portuguese automotive market, more specifically regarding the brands Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Based on the literature review, a questionnaire survey was conducted on a group of 324 respondents. From this sample, it was possible to develop a conceptual model and formulate six research hypotheses. The results reveal that brand attachment and satisfaction have a positive influence on brand love, which has a positive influence on brand loyalty and positive word of mouth. In addition, brand attachment is positively related to brand loyalty, which has a positive impact on loyalty. Therefore, this article presents some insights from the perspective of digital marketing (i.e., e-WOM and social networks) and territory management (i.e., notoriety and positioning of territories). In the end, the limitations of the study will be presented, and guidelines for future research will be outlined. Full article