The evolution of consumer power in the web 2.0 era has completely changed the game of communicating with consumers in the virtual world. Moreover, brands are facing threats in the new dimension, due to negative e-WOM (online word-of-mouth) and online anti-brand communities. In this article, we examine the origin of consumer power shift, anti-brand community formation and mechanism, accordingly, recommendations in relation to managing online anti-brand attacks are provided to give managers a practical playbook.
Read moreThe Social Traveler The power of electronic Word-of-Mouth in the travel category
The travel sector, as the majority of industries in the market, fell dramatically after the recession crisis of 2008. According to a study conducted by Oxford Economics (Oxford Economics & Amadeus, 2010), The global arrivals decreased 4% between 2008 and 2009 and tourism receipts were 5.7% below the previous years' levels (Oxford Economics & Amadeus, 2010). There is a possibility this decrease was due to travelers spending less per journey. To survive, hotels, flights, and touristic destinations had to adapt to be more competent with their offers and services by adjusting their prices and lowering them. The latter resulted not only in an evolution of the sector but also in the formation of smarter travelers.
Read moreTHE GOLDEN AGE OF ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH: The Power of Negative E-WOM – Reasons & Consequences
Electronic Word of Mouth (e-WOM) is relatively a new phenomenon and there are vast areas still to explore in this topic. Previous studies focused on the positive e-WOM impacts and recommendations and did not include the negative e-WOM and its implications, which could be more important to study; after all, when something good happen to you, you’ll take about it to approximately three people, but when something bad happens, you’ll be telling at least ten! And online, with one click you could tell thousands and even millions. And since WOM, in general, is far more credible than any other type of advertising, then negative e-WOM can be quite perilous for a company. This paper’s aim is to research the reasons for brands to fear negative e-WOM and the possible consequences.