Antecedents of Word of Mouth Behaviour among Female Grocery Shoppers in Iran

Purpose: This paper reports on research on the antecedents of Word of Mouth (WOM) behavior among Iranian women in the context of grocery shopping. Design/methodology/approach: Using a survey instrument, we empirically test the conceptual model of De Matos and Rossi (2008). Findings: We find support for the model and find satisfaction, commitment, loyalty, trust, perceived value and quality to be significant antecedents of WOM. Commitment is found to be the most significant predictor of WOM. Research limitations/implications: We examine only factors affecting the initiation of positive WOM; future research should examine also drivers of negative WOM. Our sample consists of female shoppers at Tehran branches of one grocery retailer. There is scope to extend the research to shoppers of other grocery retailers and to other parts of Iran. Practical implications: Our findings provide useful insight for practitioners in identifying the relative importance of drivers of WOM. Our research suggests that satisfaction is the weakest predictor of WOM, and therefore it is dangerous for grocery retail managers to rely on customer satisfaction metrics as indicators of WOM initiation. Originality/value: Our research appears to be the first study of WOM’s antecedents in Iran and also the first study of WOM in the context of Iranian grocery retailing, a sector which is both fast growing and under-going structural change.