The Impact of Online Word of Mouth (e-WOM) on End-User Purchasing Intentions: A Study on e-WOM Channels’ Effects on the Saudi Hospitality Market

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper's objective, as outlined in both the title and abstract, holds promise. It explicitly addresses the relationship between electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), perceived brand, and consumer purchase intentions in the Saudi hospitality market right from the outset. However, after thoroughly reading the entire article and scrutinizing various sections, some questions and reflections have arisen. It remains unclear whether the article is exclusively focused on the Saudi hospitality market, as indicated in the title, abstract and the lines 299-313, or if it also encompasses brands within the retailer's offerings, as suggested by the questionnaire (Appendix A) and Figure 1 (the second rectangle, which defines H2). After making this observation, I will include all the next comments with the assumption that the article is referring with the Saudi hospitality market.

Additionally, Reference 1 is currently unavailable, and while this may be a temporary issue, it appears to be non-academic in nature. It is recommended that the authors consider supplementing this reference with others from alternative sources.

UGC topic should be addressed a little bit more extensive in the Literature Review section even it is mentioned on lines 100-105. It is essential to include additional references and engage in deeper discussions regarding UGC in the context of tourism. Maybe a discussions about models of e-branding models in tourism will also increase the value of this section.

Out of the 19 references cited in the literature review section, only one or two originate from the field of tourism. Given the article's concentration on the hospitality market, I anticipated that at least 50% of the references in this section would be derived from tourism, with a specific emphasis on hospitality-related literature.

I recommend that the authors incorporate articles related to IAM (Information Adoption Model) and TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) within the context of tourism into their reference list.

The authors are commended for leveraging e-commerce models commonly employed by online stores. However, it is suggested that in formulating hypotheses, they incorporate references to hotels, tourism agencies, or platforms facilitating hospitality service transactions.

A typing error (Error! Reference source not found.) was identified in multiple sections of the text, such as lines 262, 274, 301, 308, 317, and 336-337, among others.

I do not understand why the purpose of introducing Table 1 was to be considered, especially since it was stated on lines 280-281 that "34 hotels in the three regions with proper consideration of the representative populations of the cities."

On the lines 419, 434 and 435 are mentioned “merchants” and “retailer online stores”. Is the focus of this article on the Saudi hospitality market or on players within e-commerce and online retail? Basically, the section "7. Discussions, Implications, Limitations, and Future Research" lacks any mention of the hospitality market.

Author Response

Please see attached file. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Reviewer Revision,

In the manuscript "The Impact of Online Word of Mouth (e-WOM) on End-User Purchasing Intentions: A Study on e-WOM Channel Effect on Saudi Hospitality Market", Hatem Garamoun and Hasan Taking Saudi Arabian hotels as the research object, this paper establishes an SEM model to study and discuss the differences in brand quality perception brought by the four channels of e-WOM and how this perception affects consumers' purchase intention, which provides a new perspective and perspective for understanding the role of e-WOM in the field of digital marketing. As social media and online platforms become increasingly influential in consumer decision-making, the study provides valuable insights that can help brand managers develop more effective marketing strategies. However, there are still the following shortcomings, so it is necessary to make a major revision.

1. there is a reference to trademark perception in the Abstract, the subsequent hypothesis section and the subsequent analysis are all references to the perception of trademark quality, trademark perception has a larger scope than trademark perception of quality, and an expanded analysis could be considered.

2. Introduction part does not account for the subsequent structural arrangement of the article, and does not make a good explanation and illustration of the innovation of this research in this section.

3.The Literature Review section deals with the impact of social media, online retail stores, brand-owned media, and influencers on e-WOM, the impact of perceived brand quality on consumer behavior and the influencing factors of e-commerce end-users' purchase intention does not include subheadings, and it is possible to consider adding subheadings, and there is a lack of correlation analysis between the above studies in this section.

Finally, the literature review does not provide an overview of the research on Saudi hotels and e-WOM, brand perception, and consumer purchase intentions.

4.Hypothesis Development part of the literature is not sufficiently based, it is difficult to provide sufficient support for the research hypothesis of this paper, consider adding references.

5. Theoretical Background and Conceptual Model part only puts forward the conceptual model and theoretical background, and there is no specific theoretical model.

6. As far as the research methodology of this paper is concerned

This paper does not specify the data processing tools, whether this paper uses the SPSS analysis? Furthermore, the sample size of the research statistics is small, and the use of convenience sampling method, does not have the randomness which may lead to a large error in statistics, and it is difficult to judge the quality of the sample, which may make the accuracy of the results of the study has a certain bias refutation, thus affecting the universality of the results of the study and the generalizability of the study. In order to improve the representativeness of the sample, it is recommended that random or stratified sampling techniques be used in future studies to reduce the possibility of sample selection bias. Qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews or case studies may also be considered for future studies to gain a deeper understanding of how consumers process and react to information from different e-WOM channels.

Further the criteria used in selecting the sample collection hotels for this paper should be explained, such as hotel star rating, whether it is a branded hotel, whether it is a chain or not, whether it has its own online marketing channel, and other factors that are relevant to the study of this paper.

7. In terms of research object

This paper uses Saudi hotels as the research object and collects samples, which is somewhat innovative in terms of research field, but this paper analyzes the effects of social media, online retail stores, brand-owned media, and influencers on e-WOM, the impact of e-WOM on perceived brand quality, and perceived brand The influencing channel of quality on the purchase intention of e-commerce end users was not combined with the research object of the hotel factor analysis, and the hypothetical analysis part was also less integrated with the research object.

Moreover, e-WOM generally has a greater impact on the marketing of products in e-commerce such as goods and services, and this paper should focus on how hotels influence the e-WOM of hotels through the channels of social media, online retail stores, brand-owned media, and influencers, which in turn affects the consumer's perception of the hotel's brand perception.

8. It is recommended to add specific data analysis and interpretation of the empirical results.

The results of the model can be integrated and analyzed in a comparative way, listing important data as much as possible, and focusing on the comparison and interpretation of the relevant influence coefficients. For example, the manuscript already says "The analysis of the effect of perceived brand quality on purchase intention formed a significant part of this research. " The empirical results of this section should be emphasized.

9. Section 7 "Discussions, Implications, Limitations, and Future Research" should be revised. In the section "Discussion and Implications", only a lot of textual analysis of the results is provided, and the data information is too little.

10. Although the paper mentions the different channels of e-WOM, it fails to explore the specific operation mechanism of these channels and how they interact with consumers' psychology and behavior, which may limit the depth of understanding the impact of e-WOM.

11. Section 7 "Discussions, Implications, Limitations, and Future Research" should explain the significance of the research, especially the practical significance of hotel marketing, and then extend it to the impact on other countries, the impact of other sectors, that is, cross-cultural and cross-industry impact analysis.

12. The design of the questionnaire in the annex is not very relevant to hotels, and there is the problem of having a large research perspective but a small research target.

13. There are too many key words, it is suggested to leave only the key and more relevant words to the article.

14. The last line of the Literature Review section "Some studies use the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to emphasize the relevance of efficiency, ease of use, and social trendiness as part of retail marketing online strategies [19, 18]." The order of the references should be changed to [18, 19].

15. From 5.2 onwards, the phenomenon of "Error! Reference source not found." appears in many places, which should be a problem with the citation format, please rectify!

16.If there is a problem with the layout of tables in Table1 and Table5, it is recommended to modify the distance from the margins.

17. There is a spelling error, 7.2. Limitations of line 6. should be changed from "take neceassy actions" to "take necessary actions".

In general, the research in this paper is only sample collection from hotels, but the questionnaire design, mechanism analysis and hypothesis analysis and other aspects of research design are not well integrated with the hotel as the object of study, and no specific hotel marketing strategy is proposed. And there are some grammatical errors and lack of clarity in the text, it is recommended to find native English speakers or professional language editing services for touching up.

Reviewer Revision,

In the manuscript "The Impact of Online Word of Mouth (e-WOM) on End-User Purchasing Intentions: A Study on e-WOM Channel Effect on Saudi Hospitality Market", Hatem Garamoun and Hasan Taking Saudi Arabian hotels as the research object, this paper establishes an SEM model to study and discuss the differences in brand quality perception brought by the four channels of e-WOM and how this perception affects consumers' purchase intention, which provides a new perspective and perspective for understanding the role of e-WOM in the field of digital marketing. As social media and online platforms become increasingly influential in consumer decision-making, the study provides valuable insights that can help brand managers develop more effective marketing strategies. However, there are still the following shortcomings, so it is necessary to make a major revision.

1. there is a reference to trademark perception in the Abstract, the subsequent hypothesis section and the subsequent analysis are all references to the perception of trademark quality, trademark perception has a larger scope than trademark perception of quality, and an expanded analysis could be considered.

2. Introduction part does not account for the subsequent structural arrangement of the article, and does not make a good explanation and illustration of the innovation of this research in this section.

3.The Literature Review section deals with the impact of social media, online retail stores, brand-owned media, and influencers on e-WOM, the impact of perceived brand quality on consumer behavior and the influencing factors of e-commerce end-users' purchase intention does not include subheadings, and it is possible to consider adding subheadings, and there is a lack of correlation analysis between the above studies in this section.

Finally, the literature review does not provide an overview of the research on Saudi hotels and e-WOM, brand perception, and consumer purchase intentions.

4.Hypothesis Development part of the literature is not sufficiently based, it is difficult to provide sufficient support for the research hypothesis of this paper, consider adding references.

5. Theoretical Background and Conceptual Model part only puts forward the conceptual model and theoretical background, and there is no specific theoretical model.

6. As far as the research methodology of this paper is concerned

This paper does not specify the data processing tools, whether this paper uses the SPSS analysis? Furthermore, the sample size of the research statistics is small, and the use of convenience sampling method, does not have the randomness which may lead to a large error in statistics, and it is difficult to judge the quality of the sample, which may make the accuracy of the results of the study has a certain bias refutation, thus affecting the universality of the results of the study and the generalizability of the study. In order to improve the representativeness of the sample, it is recommended that random or stratified sampling techniques be used in future studies to reduce the possibility of sample selection bias. Qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews or case studies may also be considered for future studies to gain a deeper understanding of how consumers process and react to information from different e-WOM channels.

Further the criteria used in selecting the sample collection hotels for this paper should be explained, such as hotel star rating, whether it is a branded hotel, whether it is a chain or not, whether it has its own online marketing channel, and other factors that are relevant to the study of this paper.

7. In terms of research object

This paper uses Saudi hotels as the research object and collects samples, which is somewhat innovative in terms of research field, but this paper analyzes the effects of social media, online retail stores, brand-owned media, and influencers on e-WOM, the impact of e-WOM on perceived brand quality, and perceived brand The influencing channel of quality on the purchase intention of e-commerce end users was not combined with the research object of the hotel factor analysis, and the hypothetical analysis part was also less integrated with the research object.

Moreover, e-WOM generally has a greater impact on the marketing of products in e-commerce such as goods and services, and this paper should focus on how hotels influence the e-WOM of hotels through the channels of social media, online retail stores, brand-owned media, and influencers, which in turn affects the consumer's perception of the hotel's brand perception.

8. It is recommended to add specific data analysis and interpretation of the empirical results.

The results of the model can be integrated and analyzed in a comparative way, listing important data as much as possible, and focusing on the comparison and interpretation of the relevant influence coefficients. For example, the manuscript already says "The analysis of the effect of perceived brand quality on purchase intention formed a significant part of this research. " The empirical results of this section should be emphasized.

9. Section 7 "Discussions, Implications, Limitations, and Future Research" should be revised. In the section "Discussion and Implications", only a lot of textual analysis of the results is provided, and the data information is too little.

10. Although the paper mentions the different channels of e-WOM, it fails to explore the specific operation mechanism of these channels and how they interact with consumers' psychology and behavior, which may limit the depth of understanding the impact of e-WOM.

11. Section 7 "Discussions, Implications, Limitations, and Future Research" should explain the significance of the research, especially the practical significance of hotel marketing, and then extend it to the impact on other countries, the impact of other sectors, that is, cross-cultural and cross-industry impact analysis.

12. The design of the questionnaire in the annex is not very relevant to hotels, and there is the problem of having a large research perspective but a small research target.

13. There are too many key words, it is suggested to leave only the key and more relevant words to the article.

14. The last line of the Literature Review section "Some studies use the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to emphasize the relevance of efficiency, ease of use, and social trendiness as part of retail marketing online strategies [19, 18]." The order of the references should be changed to [18, 19].

15. From 5.2 onwards, the phenomenon of "Error! Reference source not found." appears in many places, which should be a problem with the citation format, please rectify!

16.If there is a problem with the layout of tables in Table1 and Table5, it is recommended to modify the distance from the margins.

17. There is a spelling error, 7.2. Limitations of line 6. should be changed from "take neceassy actions" to "take necessary actions".

In general, the research in this paper is only sample collection from hotels, but the questionnaire design, mechanism analysis and hypothesis analysis and other aspects of research design are not well integrated with the hotel as the object of study, and no specific hotel marketing strategy is proposed. And there are some grammatical errors and lack of clarity in the text, it is recommended to find native English speakers or professional language editing services for touching up.

Author Response

Please see attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

I appreciate the improvement in the present version, but you still not addressed my biggest concern from the previous round:  ”it remains unclear whether the article is exclusively focused on the Saudi hospitality market, as indicated in the title, abstract and the lines 299-313” (now line 305) or players from e-commerce in general?

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1,

Many thanks for the comments. Please see attached file. 

Regards, 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

it could be accepted.

it could be accepted

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

Mant thanks for the comments. Please see attached file. 

Regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper can be accepted in the present form.