The contemporary face of word-of-mouth in B2B contexts: new technologies, practices and challenges
The contemporary face of word-of-mouth in B2B contexts: new technologies, practices and challenges
In this special issue of Industrial Marketing Management, six empirical research articles advance our understanding of how industrial marketers can achieve, curate and/or enhance positive word of mouth (WOM) in the modern era. This compilation is the first of its kind to focus on making a clear distinction between the B2B and B2C contexts, endorsing the need for separated perspectives. Whilst only an early step, the research in this special issue contributes to the extant literature by showing that: (i) buyer and supplier relationships can flourish through social media in the public domain, (ii) there is an untapped potential for user-generated content (UGC) in B2B contexts, (iii) for industrial marketers, the term “influential” marketing is more fitting than “influencer” marketing, and (iv) to generate more WOM, the way firms present content in social media must differ in the B2B versus the B2C context. In this editorial, we also outline future steps for this continued enlightenment.
B2B, Definition, eWOM, Influencer, User-generated content, WOM
A7-A11
Marder, Ben
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Angell, Robert J.
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Akarsu, Tugra
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Erz, Antonia
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19 October 2022
Marder, Ben
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Angell, Robert J.
ca8389e4-2a83-43a8-b331-c262eda37674
Akarsu, Tugra
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Erz, Antonia
f0fa9fc3-2a65-4efb-94c9-e04b33554130
Marder, Ben, Angell, Robert J., Akarsu, Tugra and Erz, Antonia
(2022)
The contemporary face of word-of-mouth in B2B contexts: new technologies, practices and challenges.
Industrial Marketing Management, 106, .
(doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.011).
Abstract
In this special issue of Industrial Marketing Management, six empirical research articles advance our understanding of how industrial marketers can achieve, curate and/or enhance positive word of mouth (WOM) in the modern era. This compilation is the first of its kind to focus on making a clear distinction between the B2B and B2C contexts, endorsing the need for separated perspectives. Whilst only an early step, the research in this special issue contributes to the extant literature by showing that: (i) buyer and supplier relationships can flourish through social media in the public domain, (ii) there is an untapped potential for user-generated content (UGC) in B2B contexts, (iii) for industrial marketers, the term “influential” marketing is more fitting than “influencer” marketing, and (iv) to generate more WOM, the way firms present content in social media must differ in the B2B versus the B2C context. In this editorial, we also outline future steps for this continued enlightenment.
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Paper- The contemporary face of WOM- Industrial Marketing Management - 2022
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Accepted/In Press date: 29 September 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 19 October 2022
Published date: 19 October 2022
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Marketers are becoming increasingly excited about emergent technologies and the opportunities these provide (e.g., de Jong, de Ruyter, Keeling, Polyakova, & Ringberg, 2021; Javornik et al., 2022; Nazifi, Murdy, Marder, Gathke, & Shabani, 2021; Saura, Ribeiro-Soriano, & Palacios-Marques, 2021). These include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Metaverse(s), Virtual reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Blockchain. Future research is required to ensure these technologies are harnessed appropriately to support the creation of WOM. Within the breadth of potential research opportunities, these emergent technologies provide scholars should consider: 1) The benefits and pitfalls of AI-generated content in supporting sharing behaviour, as well as the use of automation in responding to consumer WOM. 2) New conditions within the metaverse(s) supported by VR technologies and how they shape the production and effects of WOM in these environments. 4) Whether Blockchain technologies allow for greater transparency, accountability and security in information transfer (Huang, Zhen, Wang, & Zhang, 2022).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords:
B2B, Definition, eWOM, Influencer, User-generated content, WOM
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 471593
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/471593
ISSN: 0019-8501
PURE UUID: 96e170ba-955e-4840-b119-87e797603f7b
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Date deposited: 14 Nov 2022 17:49
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:54
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Contributors
Author:
Ben Marder
Author:
Tugra Akarsu
Author:
Antonia Erz
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