Y. M. CHEN ET AL.
quantitative units (number or length of time). WOM can be
subjectively measured on the premise that consumers under-
stand their own perceptions and preferences, so firms can esti-
mate product WOM elasticity directly by asking consumers
feelings about WOM. Moreover, it will be helpful to add a time
variable to analyze WOM effects in the short and long run for
further research.
Another issue is that WOM affects not only product catego-
ries but other factors, such as consumer loyalty and communi-
cation sites. In addition, the indicator of WOM elasticity can be
used to compare the effectiveness of WOM marketing activities
with other marketing tools (such as price promotion or adver-
tising), this is also a worthwhile issue for future study.
Finally, the concept of WOM elasticity can be extended to
quantify WOM influences among brands. Taylor (1997) found
that cross-brand WOM also affects consumer attitudes and
behavior (Libai et al., 2009). Therefore, we can apply cross-
price elasticity theory to constructing the concept of “cross-
WOM elasticity” for WOM among the different brands.
The present study illustrates the differences in WOM elastic-
ity impact on WOM influences. The purpose of this study is to
explore the WOM origins so that we can quantify the relation
between product sales and WOM, which offers an approach for
tourism managers to compare WOM effects with those of other
marketing tools.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the anonymous referees for their
valuable comments and suggestions. The authors can be con-
tacted at fion@ccms.nkfust.edu.tw or
D9308201@mail.ntust.edu.tw.
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