In this paper the perceived credibility of word of mouth (WOM) is compared with the perceived credibility of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) from a receiver's perspective. WOM can be described as verbal communication in trademarks, products and services where the transmitter does not have a profit motive. EWOM is all communications regarding brands, products and services that take place electronically over the Internet. The results of this qualitative study indicate that credibility is linked to the transmitter as a person rather than the message itself. Within WOM, the receiver usually has a relationship to the transmitter and therefore the credibility is to a large extent already given the recipient before the message is delivered based on past experience. Within eWOM the transmitter is often unknown or anonymous, which means that the receiver does not have a picture of the sender's credibility before the message is received. The receiver then creates a perception of the message and its sender based on language design. A language with certain qualitative characteristics tend to create greater credibility within eWOM. Another observation made in this study is that the quantity of messages affect the overall credibility of eWOM even when the messages alone are not considered to have high credibility from the recipient's perspective. The time aspect also proved to be of some importance for the credibility of the message in eWOM as older reviews were not as trustworthy as newer ones.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the message structure of an online word-of-mouth referral influences the booking intentions of lodging consumers. The objectives were (1) determine what elements of the message structure of an online word-of-mouth referral influenced the booking intention of lodging consumers and (2) determine whether message structure moderated the relationships between beliefs, attitudes, norms, and booking intentions of online lodging consumers. A Web-based survey instrument was administered to 158 undergraduate students from eight different hospitality management course sections. Each course section was exposed to one of eight conditions. To address the first objective of the study, two separate two-way ANOVA procedures were employed to determine the main and interaction effects of type of claim (positive versus negative) and type of conclusion (implicit versus explicit) within one-sided messages and type of claim (positive claim first versus negative claim first) and type of conclusion (implicit versus explicit) within two-sided messages, the third element of the message structure examined was type of conclusion (explicit vs. implicit).To address the second objective, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine whether message structure moderated the relationships between beliefs, attitudes, norms, and booking intentions of online lodging consumers The findings from the ANOVA indicated there was a significant main effect for positive one-sided messages. Respondents that received only positive online word-of-mouth messages had significantly higher booking intention scores (M = 3.84, SD = 1.57) than respondents that received only negative online word-of-mouth messages (M = 2.63, SD = 1.61; F (1, 75) = 10.67, p = .002). There was no significant interaction for type of claim and type of conclusion within the one-sided condition, F (1, 75) = 0.66, p = .419.The findings from SEM analysis indicate sidedness would moderate the relationship between beliefs, attitudes, norms, and booking intentions of online lodging consumers. Specifically, the relationship between behavioral beliefs and normative beliefs was stronger in the sample of respondents exposed to the one-sided message (β = .52, p = .002) than in the sample of respondents exposed to the two-sided message (β = .31, p = .011). This study suggests that lodging companies could benefit from a human-centered approach to understanding online word-of-mouth message structure and thereby consumer information behavior.

Due to the fast speed of broadband and the advanced level of bandwidth, Internet users love to spend a lot of time surfing the Internet and the e-life concept has become a very popular living style. Recently, the trend towards food shopping in groups has overwhelmed traditional shopping habits. In the past, people bought food after a free taste and now the food lovers share their experiences on their blogs. The unknown shops therefore will become famous after being introduced by food lovers forwarding their relevant e-mails. The establishment of virtual communities for shopping in groups helps consumers to acquire a better price after negotiating with shop owners. The estimated variables, including comments of group leaders, life styles and intensity of relations, were used to analyze the buying willingness in the virtual communities. The results of questionnaires were collected from the ihergo website, run by a Delicacies Discovery Team in Kaohsiung. All data were analyzed and verified via: descriptive statistics, reliability factors, correlation and regression etc. The results are described as follows: 1.The positive comments of group leaders impacted buying willingness in the virtual communities. 2.The positive intensity of relations affected the buying willingness in the virtual communities. 3.The ¡§creativity and trends¡¨ in lifestyle revealed a positive correlation with the buying willingness in virtual communities

Fenomenet med auktioner är inget nytt begrepp, utan man har i flera decennier använt sig av liknande tjänster och nätauktioner har haft en positiv utveckling i takt meddigitaliseringen. I en tid där fokus ligger på hållbarhet blir nätauktioner allt viktigare genom deras arbete med cirkulär ekonomi. Därför är det viktigt att nätauktioner fortsätter att utvecklas för att minska klimatavtrycket. Studiens syfte är att få djupare förståelse om hur e-service quality påverkar konsumenternas köpbeteenden på nätauktioner. Med denna studie är syftet att identifiera faktorer som påverkar konsumenterna i nyansen av e-service quality. För att mäta tjänstens kvalité har studien använt sig av modellen e-service quality framtagen av Parasuraman, Zeithaml och Berry (1988). Tillsammans med e-service quality använde sig studien av köpprocessen (Solomon, 2018) för att hitta ett samband mellan upplevd tjänstekvalité och konsumentens köpbeteende. Studiens frågeställning besvaras med en kvalitativ metod samt en abduktiv ansats. Studien har erhållit empirisk data genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Intervjufrågorna formulerades utifrån sex dimensioner av e-service quality identifierade av Zeithaml, Parasuraman och Malhotra (2002). Slutligen analyserades empirisk data tillsammans med köpprocessens olika steg. Studien tyder på att det inte finns några större skillnader på svaren från de olika intervjupersonerna. Med hjälp av studien kan vi se klara mönster och säkerställa vilka dimensioner inom e-service quality som har störst påverkan på konsumentens köpbeteende. I och med digitaliseringens är detta område intressant för vidare studier för att effektivisera cirkulär konsumtion och därmed minska klimatavtrycket. / Auctions are not a new concept and similar services have been used for decades and online auctions have had a positive development through digitalization. In a time when focus lies on sustainability, online auctions are becoming increasingly important through their work with circular consumption. Therefore, it is important that online auctions continue to evolve to reduce the climate footprint. The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of how e-service quality affects consumers' purchasing behavior at online auctions. This study aims to identify factors that affect consumers in the nuance of e-service quality. To measure the quality of service, the study has used the model e-service quality developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988). Along with e-service quality, the study of the buying process (Solomon, 2018) has been used to find connections between perceived service quality and the consumer's buying behavior. The study's question is answered with a qualitative method and an abductive approach. The study has obtained empirical data through semi-structured interviews. The interview questions were formulated based on the six dimensions of e-service quality identified by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra (2002).Finally, empirical data were analyzed together with the different steps of the buying process. The study indicates that there are no major differences in the responses of the different interviewees. With the help of the study, we can see clear patterns and ensure which dimensions in e-service quality have the greatest impact on the consumer's buying behavior. With the advancement of digitalization, this area is interesting for further studies to streamline circular consumption and thereby reduce the climate footprint.

Word of mouth is one of the most effective marketing techniques and have been for a long time. Studies have shown a difference in the effect of positive and negative electronic Word of mouth on consumers, the negative electronic Word of mouth have a greater impact on consumers. If companies don’t manage the negative WOM in the right way, they can lose market shares. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding on how companies manage the negative eWOM. To answer the issue qualitative interviews were made with five brands from the high involvement industry. An analysis was made with the empirical data and relevant theories. This study shows that with a strong brand and satisfied customers, companies can lower the impact of the negative eWOM.

Marknadsföring är ett viktigt verktyg att använda sig av för att locka konsumenter till att köpa hotellens produkter. Det finns ett antal olika sätt att åstadkomma detta. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka olika marknadsföringssätt som kan vara gynnsamma inom dagens hotellverksamheter. Senare diskuterades det kring bakgrunden och resultatet. Här belystes det att segmentering av marknad är viktigt för att kunna möta olika kundgrupper på bästa sätt. Här framkom även att marknadsföringsmixens olika delar går att koppla till varandra. Ytterligare diskuterades det kring word-of-mouth och att det beror på flera faktorer om gästen ska bli nöjd med hotellet. Gynnsamma marknadsföringssätt som ett hotell kan nyttja är marknadssegmentering, marknadsföring baserad på den förlängda marknadsföringsmixen samt spridning av positiv word-of-mouth, där kundnöjdhet är ett centralt tema. / B-uppsatser

Detta arbete inspirerades av att ha observerat reklamkampanjer som fått väldigt stor spridning till följd av att de uppmärksammats pga. att konsumenter har ogillat eller gillat budskapet i kampanjen vilket gett upphov till diskussioner muntligen eller online. Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka hur faktorer som kön och ålder kan påverka konsumenters intryck av kontroversiell reklam och hur kontroversiell reklam kan påverka konsumenternas attityd till varumärken som använt sig av kontroversiell reklam. Studien undersöker även sannolikheten att konsumenter sprider positiv eller negativ word of mouth/elektronisk word of mouth om ett varumärke som använt sig av kontroversiell reklam.   Undersökningen genomfördes med en enkät med standardiserade svar där den insamlade datan sedan analyserades med Chi2 test, bivariat korrelationsanalys samt multipel regressionsanalys. I undersökningen kunde respondenterna ta ställning till fem positiva och fem negativa adjektiv, kopplade till en reklambild. Analysen indikerade att kvinnor var både mer negativa och mindre positiva till kontroversiell reklam, åtminstone för de utföranden som testades i studien, därtill visade studien att äldre var mindre positiva till kontroversiell reklam. Slutligen indikerade studien att konsumenters attityd till ett varumärke påverkas i enlighet med dess intryck av reklamen, dvs. att om dess intryck var negativt kommer de sprida ett negativt omdöme. Detta samband gällde även för word of mouth. / This study was inspired from observing ads that stirredup controversy and thereby got a lot of attention from consumers.The purpose of this study was to investigate how factors like gender and age may affectconsumers impression of controversial advertisements, but also to investigate how controversial advertisements may affect consumers attitudes towards brands that have used advertisements that were deemed as controversial. Lastly,the study investigates the probability that consumers will spread word of mouth/electronicword of mouth about the brands. The study was conducted through a survey with standardized answers and the data was analyzed with a Chi2 test, bivariate correlation analysis,and multiple regression analysis. The analysis indicated that women were more negative and less positive towards controversial advertisement than men were, atleastwithin the categories that were tested in the study. Furthermore, the study indicated that consumers attitudes towards a brand will be affected in the same way as the consumers impression of the controversial ad. Finally, results indicated that the probability for WOM is also affected in the same way as the consumers impression of the controversial advertisement.

A person's friends, neighbours and other social relationships can have a large impact on their economic outcomes. We examine three important ways that networks can affect people's lives: when networks describe who they communicate with, who they can trust, and who benefits from their public good provision. We analyse information transmission in networks in a new, intuitive way which removes the problematic redundancy of double counting the signals that travel through more than one walk between nodes. Two-connectedness and cycles of length four play an important role in whether players are `visible', which means that other players can communicate about them. Next, using this approach to network communication, we investigate cooperation and punishment in a society where information flows about cheating are determined by an arbitrary fixed network. We identify which players can trust and cooperate with each other in a repeated game where members of a community are randomly matched in pairs. Our model shows how two aspects of trust depend on players' network position: they are `trusting' if they are more likely to receive information about other players' types; and they are `trusted' if others can communicate about them, giving them strong incentives not to deviate. Lastly, in networks with private provision of public goods, we show that a `neutral' policy corresponds to a switch in the direction of the impact of income redistribution. Where redistribution is non- neutral, we can identify the welfare effects of transfers, including whether or not Pareto-improving transfers are possible. If not, we find the implicit welfare weights of the original equilibrium. In this setting, we also identify a transfer paradox, where, counter-intuitively, a transfer of wealth between economic agents can result in the giver being better off at the new Nash equilibrium, while the recipient is worse off.

First, the current study aims to provide companies with a comprehensive understanding on how consumers' ethical associations emerge, so that they will be better positioned to design social strategies aligned with consumers' expectations, and communicate their contribution to several social needs in an effective way. In this context, the objective is to empirically investigate the effect of varying geographic scope of companies' donations on consumers' perceptions of brand morality. The second objective is to examine the impact that a company's donation size has, on consumers' perceptions of brand morality, their willingness to pay a price premium, and their intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth. The third objective of this study is to complement extant research on the role that various individual differences paly on whether or how strongly consumers react to a company's philanthropic activity. Specifically, this research intends to investigate how people's ethnocentric tendency, perceived social control, attributions about company motives, and cause involvement, are likely to exert influence on their perceptions of brand morality, positive word-of-mouth intentions, and willingness to pay more. The final objective of this research is to add knowledge to the literature on potential outcomes of perceived brand morality, which has currently received little attention. More specifically, the question that will be addressed in this study is whether, and to what extent, consumers' positive word-of-mouth communication intentions, and willingness to pay more are affected by their perceptions of the brand's morality.

<p>I Sverige har massmediemarknaden under de senaste årtiondena ökat explosionsartat. I ett allt mer växande reklambrus har annonsörerna fått svårt att nå och påverka konsumenterna med sina budskap. Till följd av detta söker annonsörer nya sätt att kommunicera med marknaden. En form av marknadsföring som fortfarande anses kunna nå konsumenterna är word of mouth marketing, där företag uppmuntrar och underlättar för konsumenter att prata med varandra om produkter och varumärken i olika kommunikationsforum. Ett högaktuellt och växande sådant forum är den personliga bloggen. Bloggen börjar växa till en intressant marknadsföringskanal, eftersom dess budskap antas anses vara trovärdiga av konsumenterna. Samtidigt som företags inblandning i bloggar genom sponsring och annonsering har ökat, har också dess popularitet ökat. Här uppkommer frågan huruvida konsumenterna är medvetna om detta spel bakom kulisserna och på vilka faktorer en bloggs trovärdighet faktiskt byggs. </p><p>Utgångspunkten för uppsatsen är författarnas tankar att bloggen kan anses vara ett uttryck för word of mouth och dess skribenter liknas vid opinionsledare. Således skulle trovärdigheten för konsumenterna kunna bero på dessa faktorer. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka huruvida bloggen är trovärdig, vilka faktorer som gör bloggen trovärdig och om den kan fortsätta vara det utifrån ett konsumentperspektiv. Detta undersöks genom problemformuleringen ”vad gör bloggen trovärdig utifrån ett konsumentperspektiv” samt ”kan bloggen fortsätta att vara trovärdig för konsumenterna.” Studien har genomförts med en deduktiv ansats där utgångspunkt har tagits i teori och empirisk data samlats in genom semi-standardiserade kvalitativa intervjuer med sex läsare till de största tio bloggarna i Sverige idag.</p><p>De slutsatser författarna kunnat dra utifrån resultatet av studien är att bloggens trovärdighet framförallt bygger på bloggarens roll som opinionsledare men även att den kan anses vara ett uttryck för word of mouth. Resultatet pekar också på att bloggen även fortsättningsvis kan vara trovärdig, så länge bloggaren håller sig inom ramen för vad som läsaren anser stämma överens med bloggarens person.</p>