Understanding Triggers of Offline and Online Consumer Recommendations

Abstract

The purpose of this is to address the following research questions: (1) What triggers consumers to recommend a product/firm to others? And (2) How do these triggers differ between online and offline recommendations, if they differ at all? Two studies are conducted to address the research questions. Study 1 focuses on 100 face-to-face recommendations and uses the critical incident method. In the second study, a content analysis of approximately 1,000 recommendations posted online is performed. Our findings reveal the existence of several external and internal triggers to offline recommendations. Delight, however, seems to be the main driver of online recommendations. Examples are provided of practices that can foster contexts to encourage online recommendations and to improve the relevance and usefulness of online reviews.