Cyber communities and electronic word-of-mouth : the use of facebook in the promotion of hospitality services
Part of : MIBES Transactions : international journal ; Vol.4, No.1, 2010, pages 138-151
Issue:
Pages:
138-151
Abstract:
Electronic WOM has been developed rapidly in the latest years. Traditional forms of personal and non-personal communication channels in marketing have been narrowed and gave their place to more contemporary ones. Electronic WOM is an example of personal communication channel which is widely spread through internet and it has great effect in today's business world. This study tries to investigate the effect of social network sites and more specifically Facebook in the decision making process of a high involvement service. Facebook is a contemporary mean through which e-WOM is applied among facebook members and groups and it has been chosen for the current study due to its popularity and success in the late years. High involvement services is a domain that has not been thoroughly investigated in related studies and they are characterized by high risk in the decision making process. Hospitality services have been chosen because of their high involvement nature in the decision making process and because they are of the most frequent subjects for discussion in virtual communities. The results of the research indicated that Facebook can be used in combination with other means in the promotion and improvement of hospitality services but it cannot be used as a solid e-WOM mean.
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
electronic word of mouth, virtual communities, hospitality services, facebook, high involvement services
Notes:
Περιέχει διαγράμματα, πίνακες και βιβλιογραφία
