ANTECEDENTS OF TRADITIONAL AND ELECTRONIC WORD-OF MOUTH COMMUNICATION: STUDENT POPULATION-BASED STUDY
ANTECEDENTS OF TRADITIONAL AND ELECTRONIC WORD-OF MOUTH COMMUNICATION: STUDENT POPULATION-BASED STUDY

Summary/Abstract: Word-of-mouth communication (WOM) represents a very credible form of communication exerting a great impact on the consumer/ buyer behaviour. Since WOM can take place in both offline and online environment, it is important to acknowledge the potential significance of both settings. The main purpose of this research was to explore the impact of several antecedents (consumer innovativeness, need to belong and perceived source credibility) on the traditional and electronic WOM information receiving. The research was conducted on the sample of 203 students from several countries (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia). Data were analysed using a variety of statistical techniques and methods, including exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that the research factors do not influence WOM and eWOM in the same way, thus exhibiting different significance and intensity of the influence. Namely, consumer innovativeness positively impacts WOM and eWOM indicating a stronger influence on WOM. The need to belong does not influence WOM or eWOM. The perceived source credibility proved to be significant for the eWOM information receiver. Besides theoretical relevance, the gained results have marketing implications for practice/marketing experts in addressing the WOM communication in both offline and online environment.

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