Satisfaction and word-of-mouth moderated by choice: a service industry perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 869-881
Author(s):  
Steven Leon ◽  
Hoon Choi
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Provider Satisfaction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Insurance Industry

Purpose This study aims to examine how the number of choices consumers have influences provider satisfaction, plan satisfaction and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) in the health insurance industry. Design/methodology/approach Partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modeling (SmartPLS) was used to conduct multi-group analysis to analyze the structural models. Data were collected online using Amazon mechanical turk, resulting in 425 respondents. Findings This study finds that the number of choices consumers have impacts the strength of provider and plan satisfaction and positive WOM. Also, this study finds that provider satisfaction is generally more impactful than plan satisfaction when generating positive WOM. Originality/value This study extends reactance theory, satisfaction and WOM based on choice options to the health insurance industry where credence attributes are prevalent and the analysis includes two satisfaction constructs in the structural model, whereas multiple satisfaction constructs are often overlooked.

Destination perceived quality, tourist satisfaction and word-of-mouth

2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tz-Li Wang ◽  
Phuong Thi Kim Tran ◽  
Vinh Trung Tran
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Perceived Quality ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Tourist Satisfaction ◽  
Visit Frequency ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of gender and visit frequency as moderating variables on the relationships among destination perceived quality, tourist satisfaction and word-of-mouth (WOM). Design/methodology/approach This study incorporated several previous research models to propose a conceptual model that fully explains the relationships among destination perceived quality, tourist satisfaction, visit frequency and WOM. One important thing to consider is whether gender and visit frequency impact on the relationships among these factors. In addition, this study was able to generate measurement items for the dimensions by analyzing specific tourism conditions in Danang City and referring to the scales of these factors in previous studies. Quantitative research was conducted to test the scales of the research model and hypotheses through data collected from 303 domestic tourists. Findings Structural equation modeling and a multi-group analysis were used to test the hypotheses and the invariance of structural coefficients across groups. The results indicate that destination perceived quality has significant, positive and direct effect on tourist satisfaction; WOM is positively influenced by destination perceived quality and tourist satisfaction; and there is significant relationship between visit frequency and WOM. In particular, when exploring the impact of moderating variables such as gender and visit frequency, this study also found that the impacts of destination perceived quality on WOM are different between genders, and this impact is stronger for female rather than male tourists; and the effect of destination perceived quality on tourist satisfaction is stronger for the first visit than for later visits. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited in its ability to gather a larger sample to more generally represent the complete domestic market, as well as in its lack of a comparison of online versus offline WOM effects by gender. Originality/value This paper was conducted to have a better understanding of how tourist demographic characteristics such as gender and visit frequency are important contributors that influence the relationships among these three factors. This paper has important implications for marketers and managers of Danang, such as local tourism authorities, commercial association managers, hotel owners, restaurant owners and tour managers working to improve the quality of this destination, and thus better satisfying tourists and competing with other destinations.

Service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value: holistic determinants of loyalty and word-of-mouth in services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela Maria Bello de Figueiredo Marcos ◽  
Arnaldo Fernandes de Matos Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Direct Relationship ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Perceived Value ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to understand the relationships between service quality, perceived value and satisfaction because several studies endeavored to model these linkages. It is important to test these relationships with loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM). Thus, it is important to test these relationships in the insurance sector since the relationship between these variables and WOM has not been studied in insurance.Design/methodology/approachThis investigation proposes a theoretical model tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). A questionnaire survey was developed to explore the relationships among service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty and WOM. For this study, 744 valid questionnaires were collected from a sample of Portuguese car insurance holders.FindingsThe results revealed that service quality has a direct relationship with perceived value and satisfaction. In turn, perceived value has a direct relationship with satisfaction. Perceived value and satisfaction influence loyalty and WOM. Finally, loyalty influences WOM.Originality/valueThis investigation examines the mediating role of perceived value and satisfaction in the relationship between service quality (facility and interactive) and loyalty and WOM in the insurance industry. It fills a gap in the literature by exploring the variables that lead to positive WOM in the insurance industry; the authors do not know any study that links these variables with WOM. Also, the relationship between loyalty and WOM has been poorly studied, although it is well known that in services, loyal customers speak well of the companies. Thus, the authors try to fill this gap in the academic literature by analyzing these relationships.

Should I suggest this YouTube clip? The impact of UGC source credibility on eWOM and purchase intention

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazzini Muda ◽  
Muhammad Iskandar Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIn spite of the increasing organic and interactive marketing activities over social media, a general understanding of the source credibility of voluntary user-generated content (UGC) is still limited. In line with the social identity theory, this paper examines the effects of consumers' perceived source credibility of UGC in YouTube videos on their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, source homophily theory is included to predict the antecedent of source credibility.Design/methodology/approachThree hundred and seventy two Generation Y respondents were interviewed using snowball sampling. Data were analyzed with component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsFindings confirmed that perceived source credibility indirectly affects purchase intention (PI) and electronic word-of-mouth via attitude toward UGC. Besides, perceived source credibility mediates the effect of perceived source homophily on attitude toward UGC.Practical implicationsSince today's consumers have begun to trust and rely more on UGC than company-generated content on social media when making purchase decisions, companies may reconsider democratizing certain aspects of their branding strategies. Firms may fine-tune their marketing communication budgets – not only just by sponsoring public figures and celebrities but also by nurturing coproductive engagements with independent content creators who are ordinary consumers. Endowed with their imposing credibility, these micro-influencers and prosumers have high potentials to be uplifted to brand ambassadors.Originality/valueWhile consumers' purchase outcome can be measured easily using metrics and analytics, the roles of source homophily in stages leading up to the purchase is still elusive. Drawing on the rich theoretical basis of source homophily may help researchers to understand not only how credibility and attitude are related to PI but also how this nexus generates positive word of mouth among UGC followers within the social media circles.

E-retailer cognitive and emotional relationship quality: their experiential antecedents and differential impact on brand evangelism

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Al Nawas ◽  
Shadi Altarifi ◽  
Nabil Ghantous
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Brand Evangelism

PurposeLimited knowledge exists on the difference in the antecedents and outcomes of relationship quality's cognitive and emotional aspects for e-retailers. This research tests how utilitarian and hedonic shopping values differentially affect “cognitive and emotional” relationship quality components and how the latter differentially affects word-of-mouth and brand evangelism.Design/methodology/approachOnline survey data were collected from 450 Jordanian online shoppers. Structural equation modeling (AMOS 24.0) was employed to analyze the data.FindingsFirst, e-retailer's informativeness and transaction convenience (i.e. utilitarian values), drive more strongly cognitive than emotional relationship quality, whereas e-retailer's escapism and social presence (i.e. hedonic values) drive more strongly emotional than cognitive relationship quality. Second, emotional relationship quality has a strong significant effect on brand evangelism, whereas cognitive relationship quality's effect is insignificant. Third, there are no statistically significant differences concerning the effect of cognitive and emotional relationship quality on word-of-mouth.Originality/valueThe findings of our research are expected to enhance our understanding of e-retailer relationship quality, its emergence and consequences. They would also provide e-retailers with guidance on how to execute growth strategies by focusing on specific types of brand relationship quality, on the other hand.

Exploratory study on the perceptions of event gamification on positive behavioral outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annamarie D. Sisson ◽  
Elizabeth A. Whalen
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Value Perceptions ◽  
Research Company ◽  
Emotional Commitment ◽  
Using Data

PurposeThe value of the events industry is increasing worldwide. An essential component for successful events is creating a unique experience by offering gamification. A conceptual model is proposed, exploring pre-event game communication and its effect on attendees' value perceptions, willingness to participate, word of mouth intentions and emotional commitment during gameplay at conference events.Design/methodology/approachAnalysis of variance and structural equation modeling were employed to test the model using data collected from 177 attendees recruited from hospitality and tourism association network listservs and online research company.FindingsResults reveal that perceptions of event gamification increase word of mouth intentions, willingness to participate and emotional commitment.Practical implicationsThe study contributes to the knowledge of conference events with recommendations for incorporation of game elements for meeting planners to enhance attendee behaviors at the event.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to examine positive behavioral outcomes of using games at conference events.

How social media influencer’s event endorsement changes attitudes of followers: the moderating effect of followers’ gender

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Sun ◽  
Xi Yu Leung ◽  
Billy Bai
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Attitude Change ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Marketing Effectiveness ◽  
Marketing Tool

Purpose This paper aims to study how a social media influencer (SMI) endorsement affects followers’ event attitude and behavioral intentions. More importantly, it comparatively examines the role of followers’ gender in event SMI marketing effectiveness. Design methodology approach Based on the congruity theory of attitude change, the current study developed an integrated framework of SMI marketing. In total, 335 online surveys were collected. Partial least squares structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis were conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings Results show that a follower’s attitude and behavioral intentions toward the event are affected by his or her influencer attitude. The present study also finds that follower’s social media post attitude plays a mediating role. Moreover, female followers are impacted more directly by their influencer attitude, while male followers are affected more indirectly through their attitude toward the social media posts. Research limitations implications The current study not only extends the event literature on SMI marketing but also provides recommendations for event professionals on SMI selection. Originality value This study examines SMI endorsement as a relatively new marketing tool in the event setting. It also is a pioneer study in testing the effect of social media followers’ gender differences.

Social media overload, gender differences and knowledge withholding

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongming Wu ◽  
Junjun Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Role Theory ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeDrawing on the stress and coping theory, conservation of resources (COR) theory and social role theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of social media overload on knowledge withholding behavior and examine the gender differences in social media overload, engendering knowledge withholding.Design/methodology/approachBy hiring a professional online survey company, this study collected valid responses from 325 general social media users. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique, bootstrapping method and multi-group analysis were used to test the proposed theoretical model.FindingsThe empirical results reveal that three types of social media overload positively affect users' knowledge withholding behavior and that emotional exhaustion significantly mediates the above relationships. The multi-group analysis demonstrates that gender differences do exist in the decision-making process of knowledge withholding; for example, females are more likely than males to become emotionally exhausted from social media overload, while males are more likely than females to engage in knowledge withholding behavior in the case of emotional exhaustion.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by examining the relationship between social media overload and knowledge withholding, verifying the mediating role of emotional exhaustion as the key mechanism linking them, and narrowing the research gap of lacking gender differences research in knowledge withholding literature.

The role of elaboration likelihood routes in relationships between user-generated content and willingness to pay more

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bekir Bora Dedeoğlu ◽  
Anil Bilgihan ◽  
Ben Haobin Ye ◽  
Yajun Wang ◽  
Fevzi Okumus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Route ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social media sharing on tourists’ willingness to pay more (WPM) at destinations. The moderating effects of tourists’ preferred route in decision-making or obtaining information (i.e. central or peripheral routes) were also examined. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model was developed and tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Moderating effects of central and peripheral routes were tested using PLS multi-group analysis. Data were collected from 478 tourists in Antalya, Turkey, a sea, sun and sand tourist destination. Findings Findings indicate that importance attached to participant sharing (IPS) and importance attached to non-participant sharing (INPS) are significant antecedents of tourists’ WPM intentions. Moderating effects of tourists’ preferred route in decision-making reveal that the effect of IPS on WPM intention is more influential for those with high central route preferences than those with low central route preferences. While the effects of INPS and IPS on WPM intention is more determinative for those with higher peripheral route preferences. Practical implications Although it is known by the practitioners that consumer-generated contents are important, this research suggests and supports that these contents trigger tourists to pay higher prices. Originality/value How WPM is motivated by others’ social media sharing was not very clear in the literature. Therefore, this research gap was addressed in part by examining the social media sharing structure in terms of whether others posted on organization-related sites or on personal sites.

Electronic word-of-mouth generation and regulatory focus

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sohaib ◽  
Umair Akram ◽  
Peng Hui ◽  
Hassan Rasool ◽  
Zohaib Razzaq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Electronic Word Of Mouth ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) motivations of regulatory-focused customers with positive and negative consumption experiences. Design/methodology/approach An online survey is conducted in Beijing and Shanghai. A random sampling technique is used to collect data from 854 respondents. Two scenarios of eWOM communication – positive and negative consumption experiences – are randomly assigned to each respondent. This study employs the structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis techniques. However, it uses ordinary least squares and logistic regression to analyze 137 participants in the experimental study. Findings Promotion-focused customers that aim for self-enhancement and obtaining social benefits are motivated to spread positive eWOM on social networking sites. However, prevention-focused customers are driven by vengeance and anxiety, revealing higher intentions to post negative eWOM on review sites. eWOM generation is subject to gender, as promotion-focused male customers spread it more than both prevention-focused and promotion-focused female customers. Moreover, platform assistance (PA) has a significant positive impact upon regulatory-focused customers and eWOM (positive vs negative) relationships. Practical implications This study provides a deeper understanding of motivational factors of eWOM communication. Specifically, in case of product or service failure, negative consumption experiences drive prevention-focused customers to generate negative eWOM. Thus, using various tactics, marketers need to shift customers from focusing on prevention to focusing on promotion. For example, redeemable free coupons can shift customer attention and generate positive eWOM. Originality/value This study provides unique insights about eWOM motivation across genders. It examines regulatory focus, positive vs negative consumption experiences and moderation of PA.

How perceptions of firm environmental and social values influence frontline employee outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 999-1011
Author(s):  
Colin B. Gabler ◽  
V. Myles Landers ◽  
Adam Rapp
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Employee Outcomes ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Environmental Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Good

Purpose More than ever, consideration of the natural environment and social welfare are values that firms must signal to their stakeholders. One way to do this is by adopting an environmental orientation (EO) and pro-social organizational identity (PSOI). The purpose of this paper is to examine how frontline employees (FLEs) respond to these firm-level values through four outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Polynomial structural equation modeling with response surface analysis was implemented on FLEs survey data to uncover how different levels of EO and PSOI impact sales performance, word-of-mouth, turnover intent and job satisfaction. Findings Both firm-level values have a positive and direct effect on all four outcomes. However, each imposes a boundary condition as well. Specifically, salespeople perform better when their firm has a stronger EO, but they are happier in their work, less likely to quit and more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth when PSOI is stronger. Practical implications The results suggest that perceptions of a firm-level EO or PSOI enhance employee-level outcomes. Signaling to employees that your firm cares about the natural environment and the greater social good positively influences employee outcomes, but optimization of each outcome depends on the strength of those values. Originality/value This research answers two specific research calls. First, it applies signaling theory to the workplace context, positioning FLEs as the receivers and feedback mechanisms of firm-level signals. Second, using too-much-of-a-good-thing logic, it uncovers boundary conditions imposed by social and environmental constructs on frontline outcomes.

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