Firms in many industries release or distribute their new products, often those that have shorter lifecycles, in a sequence of stages. It is often their practice as well to launch separate advertising campaigns at each distribution stage. In this context, promotion mix elements, advertising and word-of-mouth (WOM), can play important, separate, and yet interdependent roles in stimulating demand,...

This research examines how similarities in educational and ethnic backgrounds (status homophily), between word of mouth (WOM) participants, influences the effectiveness received offline WOM on recipient’s behavioural intentions. The similarity individuals is conceptualized as acquired homophily, whereas defined ascribed homophily. study employs scenario-based experiments, results suggest that p...

Purpose The present research aims to explore whether Twitter is a tool that should be taken seriously by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in their marketing strategies, taking the stance of SMEs – how they perceive, use and see the future of Twitter for their businesses. The research has three objectives: firstly, to explore how SMEs use Twitter in their marketing strategies; secondly,...

With their exceptional interactive and communicative capabilities, Online Social Networks (OSNs) allow destinations and companies to heighten their brand awareness. Many tourist destinations and hospitality brands are exploring the use of OSNs to form brand awareness and generate positive WOM. The purpose of this research is to propose and empirically test a theory-driven model of brand awarene...

The explosive development of Web 2.0 and online word-of-mouth (WOM) communications have facilitated the transaction of experience goods from offline to online. However, most of the online WOM merely consist of words which make it hard to convey the subtle feelings and experiences of consuming such products or services. In order to form more precise perceptions and reduce uncertainty, search eng...