The Influence of Multiple Drivers on WOM Behavior in an Online Context - A quantitative study on what drives consumers to share word-of-mouth online
Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) has been considered as one of the most effective marketing tools, yet the least understood. While its lucrative effects have been well proven in academic studies worldwide, little is yet known of why consumers engage in WOM, and what factors actually drive this sought-after behavior, particularly in an online context. While today's research lacks holistic views on the simultaneous effects of multiple WOM-drivers, this paper takes on a meta-analytic approach by building on the pertinent literature to construct an aggregated model, including several previously acknowledged drivers divided into two categories: (1) Brand related drivers and (2) Personal and situational drivers. The authors then empirically examine what drivers are the most influential on WOM in an online social media context. By doing so, this thesis does not only contribute to marketing managers' better understanding of online communications management, it also sheds light on the theoretical knowledge of the behavioral drivers of WOM. Additionally, this paper makes an important finding concerning the way in which to measure WOM as either intention or true behavior. Although the majority of previous research utilizes intention as the dependent variable to measure WOM, this paper demonstrate that intention is - at best - an inadequate predictor of actual WOM-behavior. The authors conclude by identifying several important topics that need further attention in future studies.