Word-of-mouth in business-to-business marketing: a systematic review and future research directions

Purpose The purpose of this study is to review and analyze the status word-of-mouth (WOM) research in business-to-business (B2B) context discuss identify new possible future directions. Design/methodology/approach A systematic was conducted 36 articles on B2B WOM were collected evaluate current state literature clarify Findings This thematic analysis categorize these into three themes: generation, usage reference marketing. Under each theme, authors reveal findings unique different from business-to-consumer (B2C) research. identifies several questions that should be addressed by Originality/value Both academic researchers business practitioners recognize plays an essential role However, no paper focuses context. B2C suggest substantially influences firms’ performance, but managers cannot simply attempt extrapolate arena. By synthesizing assessing prior context, contributes a better understanding phenomenon facilitates topic.