The Relationship Between Online Word-Of-Mouth Behaviour and Customer Satisfaction
Keywords:
onlline word-of-mouth, customer satisfaction, structural equation modelling (SEM)Abstract
AIM OF THE PAPER
Word-of-mouth research has long been present in the marketing literature. However this study follows a different perspective - it is focused on the relationship of the underlying behavioural motives of eWOM to customer satisfaction as well as to recommendation and repurchase intention.
METHODOLOGY
The applied method is structural equation modelling (SEM). An online sample of 1000 respondents who have made a purchase on the Internet in the last 3 months prior to the survey has been selected. Each scale used for measuring the latent constructs was chosen through a literature review and is acceptable based on the reliability test statistics.
MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS
Almost all of the associations in the proposed model revealed significant and the fit indices are acceptable. Personal influence as an individual factor has an important role in the motives of opinion seeking and giving. Tie strength and homophily show a positive significant relationship to opinion adoption. Furthermore opinion seeking is positively related to customer satisfaction and so to recommendation and repurchase intention. This is an essential moment in electronic commerce, because in this way customer relationship is more likely to continue and more recommendations can take place in online or offline environment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Out of practical aspects e.g. it is important that those who turn to others for information more frequently on the Internet, as a general personal characteristic, will have a higher customer satisfaction level after a given online purchase process. In this way online opinion seeking can be applied as segmentation criteria, if the corporate goal is to have more satisfied customers and positive purchase results. Although the negative effect of online opinion giving on customer satisfaction sheds light on different conclusions. Several underlying reasons can be thought of; these are highlighted in the publication.
