Examining the value of word of mouth for service organisations
The report should be comprised of the following four sections:
Provide a literature review identifying the value of word of mouth (WOM) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for service organisations and consumers (900-1,000 words)
Discuss the concept of netnography and assess its value for eWOM analysis (200-250 words)
Using appropriate online examples with anonymised quotations, evaluate the effectiveness of (eWOM) for a service organisation of your choice (700-800 words)
Provide a conclusion by linking your findings from section (c) back to your review of the literature in section (a) (200-250 words)
Indicative word of mouth reading list:
Berger, J. (2014). Word of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future research. Journal of Consumer Psychology 24(4), 586–607.
Harrison-Walker, L. J. (2001). The measurement of word-of-mouth communication and an investigation of service quality and customer commitment as potential antecedents. Journal of Service Research 4(1), 60-75.
Hartline, M., and Jones, K. C. (1996). Employee performance cues in a hotel environment: Influences on perceived service quality, value and word of mouth intentions. Journal of Business Research, 35(3), 207-215.
King, R. A., Racherla, P. and Bush, V. D. (2014). What we know and don’t know about online word-of-mouth: A review and synthesis of the literature. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28, 167–183.
Kozinets, R. V., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. C., and Wilner, S. J. S. (2010). Networked narratives: Understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities. Journal of Marketing, 74(2), 71-89.
Liu, Y. (2006). Word of mouth for movies: Its dynamics and impact on box office revenue. Journal of Marketing 70(3), 74–89.
Saenger, C. V., Thomas, L., and Wiggins Johnson, J. (2013). Consumption-focused self-expression word of mouth: A new scale and its role in consumer research. Psychology & Marketing. 30(11), 959–970.
Wien, A. H. and Olsen, S. O. (2014). Understanding the relationship between individualism and word of mouth: A self-enhancement explanation. Psychology & Marketing, 31(6), 416-425.