In today's dynamic marketplace, understanding consumer behavior has become increasingly complex, especially regarding high-involvement purchases. Nevertheless, it is just as important for both theorists and practitioners to understand. It is known that word-of-mouth (WOM) is one of the most influential factors in consumer behavior during the consumer decision journey (CDJ). Despite this, there is currently a lack of understanding regarding how consumers use WOM during the CDJ and whether different types of WOM are used in different ways. Researchers have asked for more research in the field for over a decade. The research gaps in the literature and the demand for an increased understanding within the literature laid the foundation for this study and the research question: How and why do consumers make use of different types of word-of-mouth during the consumer decision journey within high-involvement purchases? In addition to the research question, the study also aims to expand the understanding of why consumers use WOM during the CDJ. To further investigate the research question and purpose, we performed a qualitative study where we conducted semi-structured interviews with six consumers. The collected data was analyzed through an inductive content analysis which resulted in a data structure consisting of 18 first order concepts, seven second order themes, and four aggregate dimensions. The study's data structure formed the basis for the inductive bottom-up theorizing, which culminated in a theoretical model where consumer's use of WOM is integrated into the CDJ. The model visualizes how it can be assumed a typical consumer uses different types of WOM throughout the different phases of the CDJ, as well as the consumer's motives behind their use of WOM. The empirical findings emphasize that consumers seek different attributes in the type of WOM during various phases of the CDJ, whereupon they use different types of WOM based on various motives. We managed to identify six different motives for consumers' use of WOM, and these motives relate to the different phases in the CDJ. These findings, among others, are included in the model. The study's theoretical model contains several new unique findings that extend today's existing understanding of consumers' use of WOM which has resulted in theoretical, practical and societal contributions. The study contributes to closing the research gaps and enabling further research in the field of literature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-227055 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Eriksson, Stefan, Jensen, Filippa |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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