Antecedent and consequences of positive word of mouth from WOM sender's perspective: a conceptual framework in the services context

This paper outlines a conceptual framework of the antecedent and consequences of offline positive word of mouth (P-WOM) from the WOM sender's perspective, as the effect of WOM on WOM's sender is not well understood. Specifically, Customer Satisfaction (CS) is examined as an antecedent of P-WOM and continuance commitment is purported as a potential moderator of the CS-PWOM relationship. WOM sender's loyalty and affective commitment are examined as consequences of P-WOM. The tie strength between the WOM participants is proposed as a potential moderator of the P-WOM-service loyalty and P-WOM-affective commitment link. Scenario based experimental research design will be used to test the model. Pre-tests are currently being conducted to validate the scenarios and results of hypotheses testing will be presented at the conference.