Foreword	6
	Acknowledgements	8
	Contents	10
	List of Figures	15
	List of Tables	16
	1 Introduction	17
	1.1 Consumer Marketing Faces New Challenges	17
	1.1.1 Advertising Under Pressure	17
	1.1.2 The Decline of Mass Advertising Effectiveness	18
	1.1.3 Consumer Empowerment on the World Wide Web	21
	1.1.4 The Evolving Field of Consumer Marketing	22
	1.1.5 Renewed Interest in Word of Mouth	23
	1.1.5.1 The Need for New Approaches	23
	1.1.5.2 Online Word of Mouth on the Rise	24
	1.1.5.3 Collaborative Marketing	24
	1.1.5.4 Word-of-Mouth Marketing as a Response to the Challenges	25
	1.2 Word-of-Mouth Marketing Practice	26
	1.2.1 Introduction	26
	1.2.2 Terminological Diversity	27
	1.2.3 “Awareness Word of Mouth” vs. “Evaluation Word of Mouth”	28
	1.2.4 The Practice of Stimulating Word of Mouth	30
	1.2.4.1 Product-based Word-of-mouth Stimulation	30
	1.2.4.2 Advertising-based Word-of-mouth Stimulation	33
	1.2.4.3 Relationship-based Word-of-mouth Stimulation	34
	1.2.5 Overview: The Awareness Word-of-Mouth Marketing Framework	36
	1.3 Word of Mouth as a Field of Academic Study in Marketing	38
	1.3.1 Value of Word of Mouth Communication to the Firm	38
	1.3.2 Online Word of Mouth	40
	1.3.3 Influentials and Their Role in Spreading Messages	41
	1.4 Goal of this Research	42
	1.4.1 How Can Marketing Stimulate Word of Mouth?	42
	1.4.1.1 “Why Do People Listen?”	44
	1.4.1.2 “What Effects Does Word of Mouth Create?”	44
	1.4.1.3 “What Makes People Talk?”	44
	1.4.1.4 “What Happens to the Communicator after the Word of Mouth Event?”	45
	1.4.2 The Word-of-Mouth Marketing Model	45
	1.4.3 A Neo-Behaviourist Perspective	47
	1.4.4 Study Overview	49
	2 Word of Mouth Research Traditions	50
	2.1 Opinion Leaders and Early Marketing Studies	50
	2.1.1 Roots in Opinion Leader Research	50
	2.1.2 Early Word-of-Mouth Research in Marketing	50
	2.2 Three Strands of Literature	51
	2.2.1 Focus on Personal Influence: Opinion Leader Research	51
	2.2.2 Focus on Networks: Tie-strength	52
	2.2.3 Focus on Personal Experience: Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction	53
	2.3 Definition	55
	3 Drivers for Word of Mouth	57
	3.1 Four groups of Word-of-Mouth Drivers	57
	3.1.1 Pre-Purchase Trigger for Word of Mouth	58
	3.1.2 Triggers for Word of Mouth During Purchase	58
	3.1.2.1 Participation	58
	3.1.2.2 Personal Relationships	59
	3.1.3 Post-Purchase Triggers for Word of Mouth	59
	3.1.3.1 Product Involvement	60
	3.1.3.2 Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction	60
	3.1.3.3 Emotions	60
	3.1.3.4 Network Externalities	61
	3.1.4 Undetermined Triggers for Word of Mouth	62
	3.1.4.1 Involvement	62
	3.1.4.2 Self-involvement	63
	3.1.4.3 Other-involvement	63
	3.1.4.4 Message Involvement	64
	3.1.4.5 Category Involvement	64
	3.1.4.6 Purchase Involvement	65
	3.1.4.7 Firm-stimulated Word of Mouth	66
	3.2 Summary	68
	4 Involvement	71
	4.1 Introduction	71
	4.1.1 Different Levels of Cognitive Processing	71
	4.1.2 Definition	72
	4.2 Dimensions	73
	4.2.1 High vs. Low Involvement	73
	4.2.2 Situational vs. Enduring Involvement	73
	4.3 Objects of Involvement	74
	4.3.1 Product	74
	4.3.2 Message	74
	4.3.3 Media	75
	4.4 Involvement Effects	76
	4.4.1 Overview	76
	4.4.2 Involvement and Word of Mouth	77
	4.4.2.1 Few Explicit Links Between Involvement and Word of Mouth	77
	4.4.2.2 Richins & Root-Shaffer (1988)	77
	4.4.2.3 Venkatraman (1990)	78
	4.4.2.4 Wangenheim & Bayón (2007)	80
	4.5 Stimulating Involvement	81
	4.5.1 Involvement as Internal and Individual-specific	81
	4.5.2 Implicit Stimulation of Involvement	82
	4.5.2.1 File, Judd & Prince (1992)	82
	4.5.2.2 Mancuso (1969)	83
	4.6 Summary: Involvement	84
	5 Empowered Involvement	86
	5.1 Introduction	86
	5.2 Empowerment in Various Fields of Business Research	86
	5.2.1 Empowerment in Marketing	86
	5.2.2 Empowerment in Healthcare	86
	5.2.3 Empowerment in Human Resources Management	87
	5.3 Implicit: Involvement	88
	5.4 Empowerment as a Motivational Construct	88
	5.4.1 Conceptual Considerations, Dimensions of Empowerment	88
	5.4.2 Measuring Empowerment	90
	5.5 Empowered Involvement as a Word-of-Mouth Marketing Paradigm	91
	5.5.1 A Soft Constructionist Paradigm	91
	5.5.2 Empowered Involvement Defined	91
	5.6 Summary	93
	6 Testing Empowered Involvement	95
	6.1 Introduction and Overview	95
	6.1.1 A Deductive Approach	95
	6.1.2 Two Stages of Empirical Analysis	95
	6.2 First Preliminary Research	96
	6.2.1 Introduction	96
	6.2.2 Sample Selection	96
	6.2.3 Experimental Treatment and Data Collection	97
	6.2.4 Scales/Measurement	99
	6.2.5 Hypotheses	99
	6.2.6 Results	99
	6.2.7 Limitations	101
	6.3 Second Research Study	102
	6.3.1 Introduction	102
	6.3.2 Hypotheses	102
	6.3.3 Methodical Considerations, Project Description and Sample Selection	104
	6.3.3.1 Collaboration with Word-of-Mouth Marketing Company	104
	6.3.3.2 Blog Launch Project Description	105
	6.3.3.3 Sample Selection	106
	6.3.3.4 Test Group	106
	6.3.3.5 Control Group	106
	6.3.4 Questionnaire Development	107
	6.3.4.1 Measuring Empowered Involvement	107
	6.3.4.2 Measuring Word of Mouth	108
	6.3.4.3 Questionnaire Introduction and Wording	109
	6.3.5 Data Analysis: Structural Path Modelling	111
	6.3.5.1 Empowered Involvement as a Formative Construct	111
	6.3.5.2 Four Dimensions of EmI Measured Reflectively	113
	6.3.5.3 Reflective Measurement of Word-of-Mouth Behaviour	114
	6.3.5.4 The Structural Path Model of Empowered Involvement and Word of Mouth (Measurement and Structural Model)	114
	6.3.6 Choice of an Algorithm	116
	6.3.6.1 Varianceand Covariance-based Algorithms	116
	6.3.6.2 Selection Criteria	117
	6.3.6.3 Assessing the Reflective Measurement Models	118
	6.3.6.4 Assessing the Formative Structural Model	124
	6.3.7 Results	124
	6.3.7.1 Descriptive Statistics	124
	6.3.7.2 PLS Analysis	127
	6.4 Discussion of the Results	130
	6.4.1 A Word-of-Mouth Marketing Paradigm	130
	6.4.2 Insight for Community Marketing	130
	6.4.3 Four Drivers of Empowered Involvement	131
	6.4.3.1 Meaning	131
	6.4.3.2 Impact	131
	6.4.3.3 Choice	132
	6.4.3.4 Competence	132
	6.4.4 Performance Measure	133
	7 Outlook	135
	7.1 EmI as a Component of a Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategy	135
	7.1.1 Linking Engagement Marketing and Word of Mouth	135
	7.1.2 Dialogue and Engagement as a Response to Media Fragmentation	136
	7.1.3 Stimulating Empowered Involvement	136
	7.1.3.1 Nike Armstrong Bands: Meaning	138
	7.1.3.2 Kettle Chips: Impact, Choice and Competence	138
	7.1.3.3 Tremor: Impact	138
	7.1.3.4 Saftblog: Meaning	139
	7.1.3.5 A Basic Empowered Involvement System	139
	7.2 Empowered Involvement in the Current Marketing context	141
	7.2.1 From Transaction-Orientation to Interaction-Orientation	141
	7.2.2 Interaction With a Ripple Effect	142
	7.2.3 The Customer As A Co-Worker	143
	7.3 Limitations and Further Research	145
	7.3.1 Limitations	145
	7.3.1.1 Limited Generalisability	145
	7.3.1.2 Complete Set of Cognitions, Ways to Stimulate Them	145
	7.3.1.3 Complete Analysis of WOM Behaviour	146
	7.3.1.4 Difference Awareness-WOM vs. Experience-WOM	146
	7.3.1.5 Cross-Cultural Applicability	146
	7.3.1.6 Integrating SOR- and Interaction Approaches	147
	7.3.2 Further Research: Selection of Participants	147
	References	149