The Internet has grown to become one of the most influential tools affecting the tourism industry. This study seeks to explore a smaller piece of a widely recognized phenomenon, breaking off to study the impacts of online reviews on TripAdvisor and electronic word-of-mouth in the hotel sector. The study further attempts to identify problems and advantages with the increased use of consumer generated media-sites. One of the main motivations for this study is also the lack of profound studies examining hotel responses to online reviews and destination impacts. The scope of this study is limited to examine three hotels and their respective reviews, on the Aland Islands. Thus this study does not necessarily seek to generalize results in other instances. The identified problem in this thesis is that hotel operators experience difficulties in managing what is being written about them as the perception of time and space changes, owing to the Internet. In making progress to this problem, the study was conducted through semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis, to understand the specifics of the context. Furthermore, this methodology was used to understand the perspectives of the informants. The results indicate that online reviews on TripAdvisor follow specific themes and are considered an important source of information for hotel operators. However, there seems to be some limitations in management, due to lack of opportunities and strategic plans of actions in the hotel sector. There is, however, a collective understanding and willingness amongst hotels to further immerse themselves in the work of managing reviews.

While there is a growing trend to use social media for public health promotion, research on its actual potential to influence health behaviors is limited. This dissertation explores whether and how social network sites (SNSs) can be used to promote physical activity (PA) through electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Composed of two studies, this dissertation explores PA-related eWOM from both the senders' and receivers' perspectives, and examines actual messages. The first study uses a web survey and explores the antecedents and communication consequences of eWOM about leisure-time PA (LTPA), and the behavioral consequences of eWOM among college students. The second study is based on a content analysis of public Twitter posts in the U.S. in 2011 regarding PA. Based on Sun et al.'s (2006) Path Model of Antecedents and Consequences of Online Word of Mouth, it was found that undergraduate SNS users with higher affective involvement and stronger social ties with their SNS contacts were more likely to provide opinions or information about PA. People with stronger social ties were also more likely to seek opinions or information. Both opinion leadership and opinion seeking were associated with forwarding and chatting. Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior, the first study also found social support of PA via eWOM on SNSs is associated with both affective and instrumental attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC), while social negativity of PA via eWOM on SNSs is associated with instrumental attitudes and PBC. Affective attitude, instrumental attitude, and PBC, in turn, predict intention to participate in LTPA. Moreover, when putting all these different constructs together to predict intention, social support via eWOM was found to indirectly influence the intention to participate in LTPA through the constructs in the Theory of Planned Behavior (including affective and instrumental attitudes and perceived behavioral control). Applying the components of both the Path Model of Antecedents and Consequences of Online Word of Mouth and the Social Cognitive Theory, the second study examined Twitter posts of PA-related eWOM. PA modeling dominated the different aspects of social influence. Most people chat rather than forward information, and provide rather than seek opinions and information about PA. PA type is associated with PA modeling in multiple ways. People with more followers are more likely to forward information about PA. This dissertation widens and deepens the understanding of PA-related eWOM on SNSs by the application of theoretical frameworks from both marketing and health behavior fields. The results suggest that people who find PA interesting and fun, perceive themselves as close to their contacts on SNSs, and have larger social network on SNSs can be recruited as opinion leaders in future interventions to promote PA. These opinion leaders can provide PA modeling and social support though SNSs which will increase their contacts' positive attitudes and PBC and consequently increase their intention to participate in PA.

This paper extends the understanding of the word of mouth (WOM) concept and its new role within social media and thereafter analysing the impact that electronic WOM (eWOM) has on marketing campaigns. Quantitative descriptive research was employed, using the tweets that were part of the Vodacom Twitter network. This data was used to analyse the differences of activity and sentiment within the tweets. The collection of tweets were then measured against a proxy, Vodacom’s rebranding campaign. The researcher was able to identify the impact of the rebranding campaign on consumers through the changes in the responses before, during and after the campaign. The research found that the rebranding campaign resulted in higher levels of engagement between consumers and the brand. During the rebranding process, negative sentiments were lowered, however the end result of the campaign left consumers with more negativity regarding the branding. The paper advances marketing practitioners understanding of how WOM and social media play a critical role in today’s marketing. Consumers are no longer bystanders in the marketing process and are instead turning to social media as a source of information as well as a platform to communicate their opinions and attitudes. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

abstract: When consumers find that something critically out of the ordinary has occurred, they direct attention to evaluate such a critical incident more closely. The results of this evaluation may put consumers on a switching path or it might lead them to engage in unfavorable behaviors from the perspective of the organization, such as engaging in negative word-or-mouth online. The negative consequences of some product (goods or services) failures go beyond simple product attribute defects, leading customers to terminate the relationship with the organization. This dissertation, which is composed of three essays, investigates how consumers engage in negative word-of-mouth on social media channels in response to their various product failures and explores an important relationship event of betrayal, which can be triggered by certain product failures. It investigates how betrayal is perceived by customers and influences a range of their behaviors across business-to-consumer and business-to-business contexts. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2019

Recent technological developments have changed the lifestyle of people around the world. The business sector is not an exception, and companies frequently adjust to such changes by investing in their online presence. Furthermore, the internet provides consumers with different channels to find and share their purchase experiences, and such digital interactions result in bringing forth the electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Although eWOM is an essential aspect of the overall marketing mix of modern firms, its research is heavily limited to the developed world. Thus, a qualitative study of 10 millennials from Pakistan was designed to understand how three eWOM components, i.e., Valence, Channels, and Length, affect consumer purchase intentions. The data was collected through semi-structured online interviews, and the findings show that each component has a significant impact on purchase intentions. The result confirms factors such as communicator credibility, trustworthiness, and Valence ratio as essential characteristics of the eWOM components. This study contributes to further understanding of global consumers and help companies to identify eWOM components useful for promoting and selling their products in the Pakistani market.

Sammanfattning Titel: Fastighetsmäklarens felhantering Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (Kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Adam Fröberg & Ramazan Ra Be Handledare: Akmal Hyder Datum: 2022 – Juni  Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att skapa förståelse för hur enskilda fastighetsmäklare arbetar med service recovery för att åtgärda tjänstemisslyckande, service failure, som uppstår. Metod: Denna studie har tillämpat en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med ett induktivt förhållningssätt. Studiens data har samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer och totalt genomfördes åtta intervjuer med fastighetsmäklare. Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar att fastighetsmäklare har en gemensam uppfattning om att när missnöje uppstår är det viktig att ta reda på orsaken till problemet samt lösa det så snabbt som möjligt. Fastighetsmäklarens viktigaste verktyg är kommunikation, i from av, informationsutbyte, tydlighet samt god återkoppling. Åtgärdens snabbhet och initiering är de två viktigaste service recovery åtgärderna för en fastighetsmäklare.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien kan nyttjas praktiskt av enskilda fastighetsmäklare som vill jämföra sitt arbetssätt mot andra fastighetsmäklare. På en operativ nivå uppmanar studien till att se över om det finns oönskade arbetssätt hos fastighetsmäklare påmäklarbyrån. Teoretiskt bidrar studien med en beskrivning av fastighetsmäklarensfelhantering samt poängterar de viktigaste service recovery åtgärderna för en fastighetsmäklare. Förslag till vidare forskning: Ett förslag till vidare forskning är att studera hur service recovery hanteras av fastighetsmäklare utifrån kundens perspektiv. Detta är för att belysa kundens version av hur missnöje hanteras. Nyckelord: Service Recovery, Service Failure, Recovery Attributes, Word of Mouth, elektroniskt Word of Mouth

In the spring of 2015 this study began and it had the goal of answering questions regarding the importance of consumer engagement for a VOD service provider, the TV4-group.  The goal was to get answers to guide them in the building of a new VOD service for the latter half of 2015. The questions were: what role does consumer engagement play in creating social media presence for a VOD provider? How do consumers behave surrounding social media engagement for VOD-service? And lastly: what effect does social media presence and consumer engagement have for a VOD provider?    To answer these questions two sets of quantitative methods were used. A survey answered by 970 individuals and a tracker put on the main VOD sites owned and run by the TV4-group gave insights that led to answering the questions. Consumer engagement plays a large role in expanding the reach of VOD services, in the case of the TV4-group it was shown that consumer engagement made up a reach gain equivalent to 55,7% of average TV4 Play views, 17,3% of average Facebook upload views and 172% of tv4.se views. Consumers also evaluated their own: usage, sharing habits and sharing types giving insight to their behaviour. The effects of all this stretches from more views as a result of reach to consumer loyalty making consumer engagement a cornerstone in planning a VOD providers social media strategy.

The aim of this degree project is to gain a deeper understanding of how online reviews affect consumers' purchase intentions when purchasing high-involvement products. Exploring the differences of effect between two separate generations of consumers, Generation Z and Millennials. The age intervals have been 18-41, 18-25 for Generation Z consumers and 26-41 for Millennials. This research is utilizing a deductive approach paired with a quantitative research strategy. The primary data collection method has been through an internet-based self-completed questionnaire, whereas the data later on has been analyzed. The analysis has been conducted through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program allowing for the researchers to perform a series of statistical analyses. From the empirical findings and analysis conducted, it was concluded that all of the hypotheses were disproven and rejected, showing no significant difference. Through SPSS a series of independent sample t-tests were conducted to extract two means for the two generations. The statistical output displayed a higher level of impact on Millennials consumers contrary to the hypothesis, predicting Generation Z’s purchase intentions being significantly more impacted. Through SPSS the researcher have been able to compare how each generation compare against each other in terms of all the variables making up purchase intention (Involvement, Argument Quality, Source Credibility, Information Usefulness), but also performed t-tests to see how their answers differentiate in each question as well. This study could provide marketers with very insightful knowledge about how online reviews affect consumers differently, allowing for adaptation and optimizations.

Date: 3 June 2021 Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Battha Mohammed Jargalsaikhan Erdenebulgan                     (93/06/10)               (99/12/14) Title: The affect of eWOM on the brand image and purchase intention Tutor: David Freund Keywords: Electronic word of mouth (eWOM), word of mouth (WOM), brand image, smartphone Research question: Does eWOM affect a brand image? Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to determine eWOM affects on brand image concerning smartphone industries in Sweden Method: To fulfill the purpose of the research study used quantitative method. The quantitative method is used by applying questionnaires to collect the empirical data to answer the research question. A sample size of 168 respondents was selected and statistical analyses were carried out to show the distribution of the collected data. Conclusion: The study found that there is a strong affect of eWOM on the brand image of the smartphone industry in Sweden. The study concludes that it is important for firms and brands to invest in their technological marketing platforms where they can respond to customer concerns immediately.

Titel: Social Customer Relationship Management - En kvalitativ studie om hur svenska företag inom dagligvaruhandeln använder sociala medier för att skapa samt hantera kundrelationer   Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Jennifer Palm och Louise Wallsten   Handledare: Jonas Molin och Lars-Johan Åge   Datum: 2021 - maj     Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att få ökad förståelse för hur företag inom dagligvaruhandeln arbetar med SCRM.     Metod: En kvalitativ forskningsansats tillämpas för denna uppsats. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer samt en mailintervju med respondenter som tillhör företag inom dagligvaruhandeln.      Resultat & slutsats: Studiens samtliga respondenter är överens om kundens centrala roll och betonar den framgång som sociala medier har bidragit med i skapandet samt hanteringen av kundrelationer. För att skapa dessa önskade kundrelationer används sociala medier som det kommunikationsverktyg där företagen kontinuerligt kommunicerar med sina kunder. Genom kundernas återkopplingar får företagen en ökad vetskap gällande hur relationer ska formas för att tillfredsställa kundens behov.      Examensarbetets bidrag: Det teoretiska bidraget för studien är den analysmodell som har utformats i syfte att minimera osäkerheten gällande företags implementering av SCRM. Vidare till det praktiska bidraget visar denna studie de positiva aspekter som finns vid implementeringen av SCRM och hoppas att företag inom dagligvaruhandeln kommer finna ett större intresse av SCRM då fördelarna med användningen överväger dess nackdelar.     Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Denna studie har ett empiriskt urval som består av respondenter från dagligvaruhandeln. Detta gör att resultatet för studien endast kan appliceras på företag som befinner sig inom liknande bransch. Vi finner därför att vidare forskning är intressant att genomföra för företag inom en annan specifik bransch i syfte att se hur dessa företag arbetar med sociala medier i koppling till kundrelationer     Nyckelord: Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM), Sociala medier, Electronic-Word-Of-Mouth (eWOM) och Dagligvaruhandel