Guerrilla marketing’s effects on Gen Y’s word-of-mouth intention – a mediation of credibility

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate guerrilla marketing characteristics into advertising model through which the perceived effects of guerrilla marketing on Gen Y are identified, and to examine such effects on word of mouth (WOM) activity with the mediation of message credibility. Design/methodology/approach – The study obtains its exploratory purpose through quantitative method by asking Gen Y participants about their perceptions of 20 guerrilla advertisements in the questionnaires. Those advertisements and the advertising scales are selectively chosen from previous literature so that the results truthfully reflect the effects of guerrilla marketing under consumer perspective. Findings – The results show that, creativity, as a combination of novelty and relevance, has the strongest direct and indirect effect on WOM intention. Similarly, surprise factor, the claimed root philosophy of guerrilla marketing, is confirmed when it also impacts directly and indirectly consumer behaviour. Message credibility plays a meaningful mediation role, and through this, message clarity manifests its indirect influence on WOM. Originality/value – The study supports the belief that guerrilla marketing is suitable for any business because of its effectiveness and efficiency. More significantly, the awareness of Gen Y consumers of the advertisements, with or without knowing that these ads belong to guerrilla advertising, strengthens the expectation that guerrilla marketing in general and guerrilla advertising in particular are recommended choices when they reflect what common marketing and advertising should be.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

“…Word of mouth marketing plays an important role in shaping the attitudes and behavior of consumers (Lim and Chung, 2014). A vital component in the marketing process for any organization is the use word of mouth marketing because consumers become an advertiser for the organization in this type of marketing (Dinh and Mai, 2016). Viral marketing means disseminating a message or content that contains advertising or information about a company's brand through social media.…”

The impact of customer orientation on the quantity and quality of user-generated content

“…However, this research measures both the quality and the quantity aspects of user innovation by measuring the number of followers on social media and the frequency of uploading information. Similar to Dinh and Mai's (2016) finding of the mediating role of message credibility on word-of-mouth (WOM), the quality of UGC is also important in social media marketing. Therefore, we measure not only the quantity but also the quality of UGC using the number of followers as an evaluation index.…”

Contribution of value co-creation support elements to repurchase intention: A theoretical approach

“…Someone behavior in engaging in a positive word-of-mouth (Kitapci, Akdogan & Dortyol, 2014;Liu & Lee, 2016) constitutes of a verbal, informal and personal communication between a communicator (company) and a receptor (potential customer), developing to the recommendation to third parties about a product and/or service (Harrison-Walker, 2001). This affirmation is endorsed by Dinh & Mai (2016), when they expose it concerns to a relevant behavior in the marketing context, in that it influences purchase decision taking processes and the effectivity of long term relationships.…”