The Effect of Word-Of-Mouth Advertisements on the Responses of Clients (Case Study: Mobile Operators)

Customer reviews in social media contain valuable electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) information of products, which facilitates firms’ business strategy and individual consumers’ comparison shopping. This study examined the effects of eWOM motivations on customers’ behavioral intentions in the Mobile operators setting. eWOM advertising is very important because nowadays many customer buying decisions are based on this type of information. Using simple random sampling, 430 questionnaires were distributed among the users of mobile operators, that 398 were fully answered and usable for the main analysis. Data analyses involved descriptive and inferential methods performed in SPSS and Smart-PLS software, respectively. The statistical analyses were based on partial least squares (PLS) method. Cronbach’s alpha that measures reliability of the variables in the model is within the range of 0.803 and 0.899 for all constructs and their respective subscales, which is above the minimum level of 0.6, confirming internal consistency of the model’s constructs The research results have indicates that: Word-of-mouth advertisement has effect on the responses of clients. Link power has effect on word-of-mouth advertising. Link power has effect on the intent of protest, word-of-mouth on the intent of loyalty and protest, and satisfaction on the intent of out and the clients.