The Word-of-Mouth Phenomenon in the Social Media Era

Abstract

This review addresses three contemporary questions on the topic of word of mouth (WOM): (1) Are WOM and online WOM the same phenomenon? (2) What kind of target is more likely to engage in brands recommendations? (3) Can ‘organic’ and ‘fertilised’ WOM have the same value/impact? Furthermore, the present work gives academics a framework for analysing the popular phenomenon WOM, and provides marketers with some best practice suggestions. Finally, the reader can find some suggestions for further research on this topic.