Summary of Doctoral thesis Business Administration: The impact of buzz marketing on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and its effects on Vietnamese purchase intention

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRANING CANTHO UNIVERSITY

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS In Business Administration CODE: 62340102 LE MINH CHI THE IMPACT OF BUZZ MARKETING ON ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH (EWOM) AND ITS EFFECTS ON VIETNAMESE PURCHASE INTENTION Can Tho, 2020

1 Review 1: ...................................................................................................................... Review 2: ......................................................................................................................

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LIST OF PUBLICED PAPERS 1. Le Minh Chi, Le Tan Nghiem (2017). Buzz marketing’s impacts on electronic word- of-mouth intention: a case study of cuBuzz marketing’s impact on electronic word-of-mouth intention: A case study of customers’ perception in Can Tho. Economics & Development Journal, 236 (II): 83-93.

2. Le Minh Chi, Le Tan Nghiem (2018). The impact of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social media on purchase intention: a case study of customers perception in Can Tho City. Science Journal of Can Tho University, 54: 133-143.

3 TABLE OF CONTENT CONTENT Page CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 6

1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................ 6

1.2 RESEARCH GOAL ........................................................................................... 6

1.2.1 Research goal ............................................................................................... 6

1.2.2 Research objects .......................................................................................... 6

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................ 6

1.4 RESEARCH OBJECT AND SCOPE ................................................................ 7

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................. 7

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ABOUT WORD-OF-MOUTH ................................ 7

2.2 RESEARCH GAP .............................................................................................. 7

CHAPTER 3. THEORY RESEARCH AND RESEARCH MODEL .................... 9

3.1 BUZZ MARKETING ......................................................................................... 9

3.2 WORD OF MOUTH AND ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH ................... 9

3.3 PURCHASE INTENTION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ELECTRONIC

WORD OF MOUNTH AND BUZZ MARKETING ............................................... 9

3.4 PROPOSION BASED ON LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................... 10

3.4.1 RESEARCH PHASE 1: EXAMINING THE FACTORS OF BUZZ MARKETING ADVERTISEMENT AND THE DEGREE OF THEIR IMPACT ON EWOM INTENTION .................................................................................. 10

3.4.2 RESEARCH PHASE 2: EXAMINING THE FACTORS OF EWOM AND THE DEGREE OF THEIR IMPACT ON THE PURCHASE INTENTION OF CONSUMERS. ................................................................................................... 12

3.4.3 COMBINED CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF TWO PHASES ................... 14

CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................... 14

4.1 RESEARCH METHOD ................................................................................... 14

4.2 RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................... 14

4.3 MEASUREMENT SCALE AND QUESTIONNAIRE ................................... 15

4.4 SAMPLING ...................................................................................................... 15

4.5 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS ...................................................................... 16

CHAPTER 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................... 16

5.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ......................................................................... 16

5.2 RELIABILITY ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 17

5.3 EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA) ............................................ 17

5.4 CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS - CFA ......................................... 17

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5.5 STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL - SEM ............................................... 17

5.5.1 SEM REULTS OF PHASE 1 .................................................................... 17

5.6.2 SEM REULTS OF PHASE 2 .................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION ......................................... 20

6.1 SUMMARIZE RESEARCH RESULTS .......................................................... 20

6.2 CONTRIBUTION ............................................................................................ 21

6.3 IMPLICATION ................................................................................................ 22

6.3.1 Increase the role of Creativity, Humor, Clarity ......................................... 22

6.3.2 Increase the role of Credibility of information, Needs of information and Attitude towards information .............................................................................. 23

6.4 LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................ 23

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

Motivating consumer buying behavior is the ultimate goal that all economic organizations are aiming for. According to Sweeney et al. (2008), using traditional marketing methods to reach customers seems to be decreasing, and in the internet period, customers - themself can also be used as a channel of connected communication. (San José-Cabezudo and Camarero-Izquierdo, 2012). Hence, the examination of new marketing methods which could generate huge viral efficiency with a reasonable cost of implementation such as buzz marketing, is a research direction that deserves attention. Moreover, in the academic field, the research effort on the topic of buzz marketing is in its infancy. Therefore, the research on how buzz marketing impacts on customers behavior/intention, especially in the period of internet connection, is very critical and meaningful. In view of that, the study with the topic “The impact of Buzz marketing on electronic word of mouth (EWOM) and its effects on Vietnamese purchase intention” is proposed. This study is expected to provide scientific evidences to help scholars and practical marketer build and develop effective online buzz marketing programs, and increase the future sales. 1.2 RESEARCH GOAL

1.2.1 RESEARCH GOAL The overall goal of this study is to examinate how buzz marketing impacts on

consumers purchase intention in Viet Nam. 1.2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTS Literature review results found that buzz marketing affects the purchase intent of consumers through word of mouth process. And, in fact, word of mouth is the primary goal of every buzz marketing campaign. Therefore, in order to reach the research goal, this study needs to achieve three objectives as follows: (1) Identify and evaluate the influence of factors as characters of buzz marketing advertisements on the intention of electronic word-of-mouth of social network; (2) Determine and evaluate the influence of electronic word of mouth factors on purchase intentions of social network users; (3) Proposing implications to design effective buzz marketing campaigns/advertisements and thereby boosting sales. 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research embraces these questions: (1) What factors (as the characteristics of buzz marketing advertisements) affect the intention of electronic word of mouth of Vietnamese social network users and the degree of impact of these factors? (2) What factors of electronic word of mouth affect on purchase intention of social network users and the degree of impact of these factors? (3) What solution helps to improve the effectiveness of buzz marketing programs and thereby increase purchase intentions of social network users?

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1.4 RESEARCH OBJECT AND SCOPE

Research object: The research focuses on consumer intentions for eWOM and purchase in the period of internet connection. Therefore, targeted objects are identified as individual consumers from over 18 years of age, who are currently using social networks or online communication platforms, and can independently making purchase decision (called for connected spenders).

Geographic scope: Research space is proposed to conduct in Can Tho City. It is mainly focus on wards in the central such as Ninh Kieu, Cai Rang, Binh Thuy, O Mon, Thot Not, which has high ratio of populations.

Research major: Currently there are no literature mentioning the limitation in the applicability of buzz marketing due to industries. The history of applied marketing shows that buzz marketing can be used in many industries such as: Fast- moving consumer goods, fashion, even low-cost airlines ... However, this research can only focus on Fast-moving consumer goods because many successful buzz marketing campaigns have been reported in this industry.

Time scope: Data was collected through a cross-sectional survey from

November 2016 to February 2017. Data analysis was conducted after that time.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ABOUT WORD-OF-MOUTH

The results of previous literature review showed that there are 4 questions related to WOM considering by many scholars: Why consumers spread message? Where did WOM start? What prefixes are related to WOM? And the expected results from spreading WOM?, The results of literature review according to above question that have found some valuable research contents as follows: 2.2 RESEARCH GAP (1) Most of the previous research on the topic of buzz marketing is very limit both Viet Nam and abroad, so there is no definition of buzz marketing. This has been identified as a big gap of previous research should be solved.

(2) The overview of non-traditional marketing (buzz marketing is one of them) shows that: Most of researches are mainly based on consumer experience, and factors influencing word of mouth are considered as an external factors, which will be limited in spreading due to resource limitation.

However, through the literature review has provided and supplemented to

author some important contents and proposed inheritance in this thesis as follows:

(1) Litvin's synthetic model, Goldsmith & Pan (2008) provides evidence to the author for the important role and mediator of word of mouth in Buzz marketing campaign, and the need to consider Word of mouth by 2 perspectives: behavior of word of mouth and word of mouth information to fully explain the objectives of this thesis.

(2) Specific inheritance from previous studies are summarized as follows:

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Table 2. 1: Inheritance from previous studies

Author

Year Main study

Study design

Relev ance

Hum our

Clari ty

Surpri se

Subjecti ve norm

Info usefuln ess

Info adopti on

N o

Informa tion quality

Attitude toward info

Interview

Yes

1987

Inform ation credibi lity -

Needs of inform ation -

2003

Interview

Yes

Post consumtion Experience of buying

2001

Interview

Yes

1 Westbro ok 2 Derbairx & Vanham me 3 Laczniak

2015 Guerrilla

Interview

Yes

Marketing

, DeCarlo & Ramasw ami 4 Tam & Khuong

Yes

5 Litvin,

2008 WOM

Yes

behaviour

Literature review

Goldsmit h & Pan

6 Huwanan

2015 Viral

Interview

Yes

7 Miao

2012

Marketing Ewom

Interview

Yes

8 Hussain

2018

Ewom

Interview

TOTAL

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CHAPTER 3 THEORY RESEARCH AND RESEARCH MODEL

3.1 BUZZ MARKETING

The concept of buzz marketing seems to have been first mentioned by Mark Hughes in 2005 in a book titled “Buzz marketing, get people to talk about your stuff”. The literature review shows that there is currently no unified concept of buzz marketing, but most scholars agree that: The core of what we are all discussing about is the ways of motivating consumers joining the conversation (Ahuja et al., 2007; Rosen, 2005). In this research, buzz marketing is a strategy that aims to make consumers to appear as a contributor, as a real fan of a product and to convince others of its advantages with their enthusiasm (Hutter and Hoffmann, 2011). This means that the goal every buzz marketing campaign aims to achieve is to create a “buzz” by encouraging customers to spread word of mouth. 3.2 WORD OF MOUTH AND ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH

WOM has been an attractive topic of research since the 1960s (Arndt, 1967) and over time the definition of word of mouth has also evolved (Carl, 2006). In the scope of this research, the author advocates the broadest definition: WOM is the communication between consumers about a product, service or company; in which WOM information was considered independent of commercial influences.

Until the emergence of internet-based media, word of mouth on online platforms was gradually formed and was called electronic word of mouth. Synthesizing conceptual proposals from previous studies, the author proposes to consider: eWOM is all kind of the communication between consumers about a product, service, or a company on internet platform and in which in which the sources are considered independent of commercial influence. Electronic word of mouth also carries the full range of features of word of mouth. 3.3 PURCHASE INTENTION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUNTH AND BUZZ MARKETING

Unlike the electronic word of mouth or buzz marketing, the concept of purchase intent is explicit: purchase intention can be defined as a situation where a consumer is willing and intends to make transactions (Pavlou, 2003). In the research scope of this topic, the author proposed to consider the impact of buzz marketing on purchase intention and understands that this is just one of many approaches. However, through researching past research papers, the researcher found that the original goal of buzz marketing campaigns was not purchase intention but word-of-mouth consumer intention. Hutter and Hoffmamn (2011) synthesized and stated that the main purpose of buzz marketing is to attract consumers to become a communicator/an originator and convey the message to the others by word of mouth (WOM or eWOM). And in turn, these messages will influence other consumer intentions or behavior, including purchase intention (Litvin, Goldsmith and Pan, 2008). Synthesizing the document review process, the author proposes a general conceptual model where buzz marketing process that affects electronic word of mouth and leads to buying intent:

9 Figure 3. 1: The conceptual model of the buzz marketing advertisement influences eWOM and purchase intention

Source: Author proposed

3.4 PROPOSION BASED ON LITERATURE REVIEW

Based on the results of reviewing previous articles published on creditable media channels, this study also supports the notion that word of mouth (within this topic is eWOM) plays a role as mediation between buzz marketing advertisement and purchase intention. The author also emphasize that it is necessary to distinguish between electronic word of mouth communication and electronic word of mouth information. In order to achieve the research objectives presented in Chapter 1, a study with two phases is proposed as follows:

Phase 1: Examining the factors of buzz marketing advertisement and the degree of

their impact on eWOM intention.

Phase 2: Examining the factors of eWOM and the degree of their impact on the

purchase intention of consumers. 3.4.1 RESEARCH PHASE 1: EXAMINING THE FACTORS OF BUZZ MARKETING ADVERTISEMENT AND THE DEGREE OF THEIR IMPACT ON EWOM INTENTION 3.4.1.1 Factors of buzz marketing

According to Hutter and Hoffmamn (2011), it can be argued that buzz marketing is a marketing strategy under guerilla marketing and therefore it has full features of guerilla marketing. Due to the fact that there are few academic literatures that help to identify the elements/factors of buzz marketing, given the relationship between buzz marketing and guerrilla marketing, the author suggested to consider five factors of buzz marketing:

Novelty: is common descriptor of creativity. As a component of creativity, novelty positively affects advertising effectiveness, and together with relevance, it positively affects consumer attitude and behavior (Ang and Low, 2000). Examining novelty’s impact is, therefore, essential.

Relevance (meaningfulness): The concept in this study is ad relevance, the meaningfulness when customers perceive of the ads when they communicate the product. According to Heckler and Childers (1992), relevance is the reflection of how information embodied in an ad contributes to or detracts from the ad message. Only when an ad shows some meanings about the product will its novelty create creativity (Haberland and Dacin, 1992). Once creativity is built, its impact on purchase behavior is relevance and novelty, as expected (Till and Baack, 2005). Consequently,

10 subcomponents of creativity, are the two vital independent variables in the proposed model.

Humor: is the final aspect of creativity (West et al., 2008). Marketers should catch their customer attention before they wish them to take any interest in the products (Pieters et al., 2002). Humorous advertisements lead to a more positive attitude towards the ads, the brands and increase purchase intention (Eisend et al., 2014). Consequently, the role of humor as a component of creativity and its impact on the dependent variable are worth evaluating.

Clarity: The reason that clarity is included in the model is comprehensible because even if the advertisements are novel and such novelty is relevant to the extent that creativity is created, it may not necessarily portend that the participants understand the intended messages embodied in those advertisements, through which their subsequent actions are motivated.

Surprise: The unexpectedness that buzz advertisements strike on consumers, the sensational feeling that makes them “wow” or “aha”, is a powerful factor. Surprise arouses feelings and results in more elaborate information processing when there is an incongruity between an ad and the expectation of that ad. 3.4.1.2 Mediator: Credibility

Advertisement content credibility is “the extent to which the consumer perceives claims made about the brand in the ad to be truthful and believable” (MacKenzie and Lutz, 1989), of which the underlying process is the comparison between what is said and what is done (Herbig and Milewicz, 1995). The core of buzz marketing is a series of unique tactics that capture the attention of many people (included media). Therefore, it is necessary to gain the trust of those who receive information before it becomes a viral phenomenon in the online community. With the above theory, this study concurs with the findings published by Tam and Khuong (2016) when proposing credibility as the mediating variable between elements of buzz marketing and eWOM intention. This means the expectation that when customers are convinced by the campaign's advertising message, they will tend to pass information on to others via the internet. 3.4.1.3 Research model phase 1

From the above arguments, in phase 1, the author proposed a research model:”

Figure 3. 2: Research model phase 1

Novelty

H1.1

Relevance

H1.2

H1.3

H1.6

Credibility

Humor

eWOM intention

H1.4

Clarity

H1.5

Surprise

Source: Author proposed

Hypotheses in research phase 1 are proposed:

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- H1.1: Novelty positively affect (+) Credibility. - H1.2: Relevance positively affect (+) Credibility. - H1.3: Humor positively affect (+) Credibility. - H1.4: Clarity positively affect (+) Credibility. - H1.5: Surprise positively affect (+) Credibility. - H1.6: Credibility positively affect (+) eWOM intention.

3.4.2 RESEARCH PHASE 2: EXAMINING THE FACTORS OF EWOM AND THE DEGREE OF THEIR IMPACT ON THE PURCHASE INTENTION OF CONSUMERS.

information needs, attitudes information, towards

In this phase, the proposed model is a combination of Information Adoption Model - IAM (Sussman and Siegal, 2003) and model of Theory of Reasoned Action - TRA (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). IAM is applied to explain the characteristics of eWOM information, while the relevant components of TRA represent consumer behavior towards eWOM information. With this combination, the research model is expected to evaluate the relationship between the following variables: information quality, reliable information, subjective standards for for information, its usefulness, its acceptance and purchase intent. 3.4.2.1 Information quality and Information credibility

In fact, previous researchers found that the quality of online reviews have positive effects on consumers' purchase intentions (Park et al., 2007). Therefore, we predict the quality of eWOM information in social media can be one of the determinants of consumers' purchase intentions. Furthermore, previous research has also demonstrated the rela- tionship between information credibility on consumers' purchase intentions (Nabi & Hendriks, 2003; Prendergast et al., 2010) and information adoption (McKnight & Kacmar, 2006). However, ac- cording to Wathen and Burkell (2002), information credibility is the initial factor in the individuals’ persuasion process. Therefore, based on IAM, we predict that the credibility of eWOM information is positively related to its usefulness in addition to information adoption and purchase intention. 3.4.2.2 Needs of information, Attitude and Subjective norm towards information

Needs of information have primarily been studied as a motivator for word of mouth engagement (Sundaram, et al. 1998). Erkan and Evan (2016) suggested that people seeking information in social media, are more likely to find usable ones and adopt them; and eventually needs of information can affect purchase intention.

Attitude towards information is another dependent variable that was added through considering TRA (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Attitudes of consumers have been examined by researchers in several studies with regards to eWOM (Park et al., 2007; Prendergast et al., 2010). However, Subjective norm was ignored and had not been evaluated. Based on the publication of Hansen et al (2004), the author can conclude that Subjective norm is a factor that has a special impact regarding Vietnamese culture. Therefore, the proposed hypothesis are Attitude and Subjective norm towards eWOM information can positively impact the usefulness of information and consumer buying intentions.

12 3.4.2.3 Information usefulness and Information adoption

Information usefulness refers to people's perception that using new information will enhance his/her performance (Bailey & Pearson, 1983; Cheung et al., 2008). Information usefulness is considered as a main predictor of information adoption (Davis, 1989; Sussman & Siegal, 2003) and purchase intention (Lee & Koo, 2015), because people tend to engage with the information when they think it is useful. Particularly in social media, people encounter a great amount of eWOM information. 3.4.2.4 Information adoption and Purchase intention

Social media users, either intentionally or unintentionally, are exposed to a huge amount of eWOM information and previous studies have found such eWOM information as influential on consumers' purchase intentions (See-To & Ho, 2014; Wang et al., 2012). However, not all eWOM information posted on social media has the same effect on consumers’ purchase intentions; the level of impact can vary (Yang, 2012). In this study, based on Erkan and Evans (2016), the author examinate a hypothesis: the consumers who adopt eWOM information are more likely to have purchase intentions. 3.4.2.5 Research model phase 2

Based on above argument, research model and hypotheses in phase 2:

Figure 3. 3: Research model phase 2

 H2.1: Quality of eWOM information is positively related (+) to Usefulness of

eWOM information.

 H2.2: Credibility of eWOM information is positively related (+) to Usefulness of

eWOM information.

 H2.3: Needs of eWOM information is positively related (+) to Usefulness of

eWOM information.

 H2.4: Attitude towards eWOM information is positively related (+) to

Usefulness of eWOM information.

 H2.5: Subjective norm towards eWOM information is positively related (+) to

Usefulness of eWOM information.

 H2.6: Attitude towards eWOM information is positively related (+) to Purchase

intention of customer.

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 H2.7: Subjective norm towards eWOM information is positively related (+) to

Purchase intention of customer.

 H2.8: Usefulness of eWOM information is positively related (+) to Adoption of

eWOM information.

 H2.9: Information adoption of eWOM information is positively related (+) to

Purchase intention of customer.

3.4.3 COMBINED CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF TWO PHASES

To summarize, the conceptual model synthesized in this study is proposed as

follows:

Figure 3. 4: Combined conceptual model of two research phases

Source: Author proposed CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 RESEARCH METHOD

In this study, in order to solve the research questions that have been raised in Chapter 1, the author has proposed two research model in two research phases which were improved based on literature review. Because of the backgrounds and hypotheses were proposed in previous chapter, according to criteria by Neuman (2003), this study could be considered as a quantitative research. However qualitative method was also applied in the process of designing measurement scales and questionnaire. 4.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design provides the basic plan to guide the research process in order to achieve research objectives most efficiently (Hair et al. 2003). In this study, both two research phases are designed with a same approach: exploratory, pilot, and main study.

14 Figure 4. 1: Research process

Source: Literature review

4.3 MEASUREMENT SCALE AND QUESTIONNAIRE

Measurement scales are adapted based on previous published studies. The author also consulted experts to find and adjust points that could lead to misunderstanding or bias. The process of determining measurement scale and designing questionnaire is described as follows:

 Step 1: English original scales were summarized based on articles published on

journals of ISI or Scopus system.

 Step 2: Consult ideas from scholars, and practical marketer to short-list the

potential scales which could be suitable in the research context.

 Step 3: Translate the original scales into Vietnamese with the consultation of a

linguistic expert to control the misunderstanding of vocabulary and culture.

 Step 4: A group interview with academic and practical experts working in

Marketing was organized to discuss and finalize the questionnaire.

 chuyên gia một lần nữa để thống nhất các chi tiết và hoàn chỉnh bộ câu hỏi. In phase 1, the scales are adapted: Novelty based on Andrews & Smith (1996), Relevance on Mercanti-Guérin (2008), Humor based on Zhang (1996), Clarity based on Pelsmacker et al. (2002), Surprise by Scherer (2005), Credibility according to Goldberg & Hartwick (1990), and the dependent variable eWOM intention is referenced from the scale of Goyette et al (2010). .

In phase 2: Information quality and Attitude towards information based on Park et al (2007), Information credibility based on Prendergast et al (2010), information needs based on Chu and Kim (2011), Subjective norm towards information based on Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), Information usefulness based on Bailey and Pearson (1983), Information adoption based on Cheung and (2009), and the dependent variable Purchase intention was referenced from the scale of Coyle and Thorson (2001). 4.4 SAMPLING

Targeted population: the targeted population is people who currently living in Can Tho City; using and interacting on social networking platforms to find references

15 for products or services; has the independent ability to behave and make purchasing decisions.

Sampling method: Non-probability sampling was chosen to collect the primary data for this study, and it is convenient method where the researchers use any readily available individuals as participants (Cooper & Chindler, 2006). The most advantage of this method is it allows the author to achieve a large number of samples with an optimum resource. However, the author clearly awared that the convenient sampling method has limitations which will be discussed in t the final chapter of this study.

Sample size: Kline (2011) said that a usual sample size where Structural Equation Model used is about 200 cases. Barret (2007) also recommended that reviewers of journal submissions will reject for publication if Structural equation modeling has a number of sample size lower than 200.” In this situation, Structural Equation Model is the major technique to analyze data and calculate the results. Therefore, the sample size should be at least 200. Based on the ability to collect data, the selection of 200 respondents in this study as the minimum sample size can satisfy the requirement for factor analysis. In this study, the final number of observations in phase 1 is 266 and 355 for phase 2.

4.5 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS In order to reach the most precise results for the research, questionnaires were coded, computerized, and screened for errors before any statistical analysis. Finally, the author would apply several statistic techniques using SPSS and AMOS:

For SPSS: Frequency; Mean; Standard Deviation; Reliability test with Cronbach’s

alpha; Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).

For AMOS: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA); Structural Equation Model

(SEM); Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling; Two ways interaction analysis.

CHAPTER 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

Regarding gender, male per female ratio is 45/55 in phase 1, 47/53 in phase 2. In term of age: Respondents participating in the research phase 1 are mainly 17-30 years old, and 31-40 years old with the rates of 63.9% and 23.7% respectively. Followed by the sample group in the age group 41-50 years old, accounting for 10.2%; the rest are over 50 years old, only about 2.3%.

Respondents participating in the research phase 2 are also mainly 17-30 years old, and 31-40 years old, at 60.6% and 25.6% respectively. Followed by the sample group in the age group 41-50 years old, accounting for 11.3%; The rest are over 50 years old, only about 2.5%.

In term of social networking habits: nearly 80% of the people in research phase 1 responded that they used social networks every day, and nearly 20% of respondents said they used social networks 4-6 days / week. Meanwhile, in research phase 2, nearly 75%

16 of the people in the sample used social networks every day and about 18% of the respondents said they used social networks for 4-6 days in a week. 5.2 RELIABILITY ANALYSIS

The most common method for evaluating the reliability of measurement scale is based on Cronbach’s alpha index. The results of reliability analysis show that most of the scales proposed for the study in both phase 1 and phase 2 had met the statistical requirements (Cronbach’s alpha> 0.7). The only measurement scale that could not pass reliability test was Subjective norm, and therefore this variable was excluded. 5.3 EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA)

The purpose of the EFA analysis step is to minimize the number of explanatory variables, examine structures or relationships between variables, contributing to reinforcing or rejecting the initial research hypotheses:

EFA results in research phase 1 suggested that Novelty and Relevance should be combined to create a new variable. This was understandable because Novelty and Relevance could be two elements of creativity in marketing (Andrews và Smith, 1996; Jackson và Messick, 1967). Therefore, the scales: NOVEL01, NOVEL02, NOVEL03, RELEV01, and RELEV02 were grouped into a new variable, named Creativity.

EFA results in research phase 2 suggested that all measurement scales are

validity and can be proceeded to next step of analyzing. 5.4 CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS - CFA

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) “is used to confirm the measurement theory that proposed in this study. According to Hair et al (2009), a measurement theory identifies how measured variables correspond to constructs in a theoretical model. Unlike EFA, CFA requires that constructs, specific number of factors and variables loading on each factor are clearly defined. Briefly, CFA was conducted to test whether the measurement model fits with data.” In CFA step, the author also tested the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the scales by examinate these four indexes: Standardized Loading Estimate; Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE): Maximum Shared Variance (MSV). The analysis results showed that all variables in both study phases had the index level as proposed by Hair et al (2010). 5.5 STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL - SEM 5.5.1 SEM REULTS OF PHASE 1

Structural Equation Model (SEM) should be conducted to examine both the measurement model and the structural regression model. The design of Structural Equation Model in research phase 1 was demonstrated as below:

17 Figure 5. 1: SEM result of research phase 1

The results of structural equation model analysis provide evidence for claims that the characteristics of buzz marketing: Creativity, Humor, Clarity have an impact on credibility and thereby influence to eWOM intention of customer. The estimated (non- standardized) impact weights are 0.411, 0.275 and 0.308, respectively; P-value <0.05. The results of this analysis help to reinforce hypotheses H1.1 and H1.2, H1.3, H1.4 and therefore these hypotheses are accepted. However, within the limits of this study, the data collected did not provide enough evidence to confirm the role of surprise as the scale of this factor was rejected prior to the SEM analysis due to failure standard load factor. Thus, hypothesis H1.5 is not grounded for acceptance in this study.

Regarding the mediating role of credibility, the author uses the empirical method suggested by Kline (2005): when the model has two statistically significant related direct effects, we can conclude the indirect impact was happened. In this case, the SEM model shows that credibility is a mediate variable that has an impact on electronic oral intentions, especially the weight of the impact of trust on eWOM intent is quite large with β = 0.687. Thus, through credibility middlemen, elements of buzz marketing, including Creativity, Humor, and Clarity, will contribute to shaping users’ eWOM intention, hypothesis H1.6 is accepted. 5.5.2 SEM REULTS OF PHASE 2

18 Figure 5. 2: SEM results of research phase 2

SEM analysis results show that the credibility of information, information needs and attitudes towards information have a positive impact on the usefulness of information, the weights are 0.226, 0.25, and 0.495 respectively, with P-value reaching statistical standards. This means H2.2, H2.3, and H2.4 are accepted. However, there is insufficient evidence to show the relationship between information quality and the usefulness of information due to P-value> 0.05, hypothesis H2.1 is therefore not accepted. The results also show that the usefulness of information has an impact on information adoption (β = 0.157, P-value = 0.002) and thereby buying intent. When an individual accepts eWOM information, he has a higher purchase intent and thus hypotheses H2.8, H2.9 are accepted.

The direct relationship between attitudes and buying intent according to Reasonable Action Theory - TRA cannot be confirmed in this research framework due to P-value = 0.387 (> 0.05). Therefore, hypothesis H2.6 has not been accepted. However, it should be mentioned that attitudes towards information still influence purchase intent through the relationship of this variable to the usefulness of information. SEM analysis results showed that attitude is the most important prefix for the usefulness of information, reaching the highest weight of β = 0.495 among the independent factors. However, this second stage of study 2 is not enough evidence to test the role of subjective standards in the model because the scale of this variable is rejected because it is not reliable enough. This means that hypothesis H2.5 and H2.7 have not been accepted. Thus, the results from the SEM analysis in the second research phase suggest that two relationships between information quality and its usefulness, attitudes and buying intent are removed from the model.

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CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION

6.1 SUMMARIZE RESEARCH RESULTS

In order to answer these three research question in chapter 1, the study has

developed two research model.

The Phase 1 research model focuses on the behavioral aspects of electronic word of mouth to determine how traits in buzz marketing campaigns affect the intentions of electronic word of mouth behavior of social network users. The results of the survey and analysis of data show that Creativity, Humor, and Clarity positively affect credibility of that marketing campaign / product / service and influence eWOM intention. More specifically, Creativity is the most influential factor; next is Clarity, and Humor. Thus, the perception of Creativity in buzz marketing campaigns should be focused, but this Creativity must be novelty and relevance and should also be easy to understand and capture, and bring happiness to the customers. As mentioned on the theoretical basis, even if a marketing event is judged to be creative does not mean that the consumer can understand the marketing message and thus reduces the transmission download that person’s message. So that is clarity also an important factor. The results of the study show that the degree of clarity in the messages can make consumers feel more trustworthy of a buzz marketing campaign and, as a result, more likely to spread eWOM. The final element to creating a credible buzz marketing campaign is Humor. This shows that entertainment in buzz marketing is indispensable because people tend to share about happiness. One notable result is the mediating role of credibility. This role shows that the more consumers feel the marketing program is innovative and clear, the easier it is for them to grasp and trust the messages. Moreover, if the message incorporates a sense of humor and joy, consumers will tend to trust more. And with such positive feelings, they are more likely to engage in eWOM activities and other oral acts (Tsang et al., 2004). One unintended result, though, was that this study had insufficient grounds to conclude on the role of surprise. This is out of the authors' expectation as the documentary review process shows surprise assessed as the core philosophy of guerrilla marketing methods such as buzz marketing (Tam and Khuong, 2016); also the main difference between guerilla marketing and traditional marketing (Hutter and Hoffmann, 2011). Although the statistical results do not support the hypothesis related to surprise, the authors' own opinion still argues that surprise is a necessary element in every marketing program and should be further considered in the future.

In phase 2, the research focuses on the informational aspect of electronic word of mouth explaining the impact of eWOM on social media on purchasing behavior. Survey results and data analysis show that factors: Credibility of information, Needs of information and Attitude towards information have a positive impact on how users perceive Information usefulness, which leads to them being receptive to it, and this drives purchase intention. More specifically, the study found that the Needs for information and Attitude towards information have the greatest impact on the Usefulness of information, while the credibility of information / reliability of sources

20 also has impacts but not as strong. In addition, the effect of Information usefulness on Information adoption is lowest when compared with the correlation weight between the remaining pairs of factors. Another result that was different from the initial expectation of the study was that the quality of the information did not correlate with the usefulness of the information, even though the descriptive statistics for the mean value of the information quality was quite good, reaching 4.0 / 5.0. This may lead to the assumption that although users perceive information shared on social media as easy to understand, clear, and quality, they do not feel such information is useful enough to make a purchase. This can also be explained: unlike a message coming from the business / organization needs to have a clear, quality element, at this stage when the consumer receives a message that is too complete. They seem to see this as an advertisement, not enough objective factors to consider making a buying decision.

Figure 6.1: Combined conceptual model represented results of two research

phases

Source: Author

6.2 CONTRIBUTION

Buzz marketing is not a newly born method but because little research has been conducted this can be considered as one of the first attempts to look at this topic in Vietnam. The results of the research have helped to define buzz marketing traits from the consumer's point of view and provide suggestions for both scientists and administrators. With the evidence gathered, this research is expected to help broaden the understanding of how to influence consumer behavioral intentions through the use of buzz marketing tactics and applying them to businesses in modern marketing terms are changing day by day. The contributions of the study can be listed as follows:

Firstly, the thesis helps to confirm eWOM's mediating role in buzz marketing and

consumer purchase intent.

Second, similar to previous marketing studies, Novelty and Relevance should be combined to form Creativity. This finding certainly reinforces the role of the Creativity in influencing the word of mouth behavior of both online and offline consumers. In addition, the clearer the design messages are, the easier it is for consumers to understand, combined with a sense of joy to experience, they tend to trust more and will conduct eWOM activities (Tsang et al., 2004).

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Third, Surprise, is believed to be the core of every guerilla marketing techniques and the key difference between guerilla and traditional marketing, has not shown a role in this study due to scale problems. Even so, the author still supports the general perception that when users perceive the marketing program as being creative and startled by them, they are more likely to share such impressions with others. Therefore, the factor of Surprise still needs attention and research in the future.

Fourth, the role of credibility intermediaries clearly shows the expectation that the more consumers feel the marketing program is new and relevant to them, the marketing program can convey a clear message and happily, the more motivated they are to learn about the program and the more “persuaded”.

Fifth, research phase 2 succeeded in combining an Information Acceptance Model and Reasonable Action Theory to explain the effect of eWOM information on people’s purchase intention. One might mention is the disapproval of the relationship between the Attitude factor and Purchase intention as in Theory of Reasoned Action. The results show that Attitude towards eWOM information are not directly related to Purchase intent, but through two intermediate variables: Usefulness of information and Information adoption.

Sixth, unlike the publication of Erken and Evans (2016), this study results do not show a correlation between the quality of eWOM information and the usefulness of information in the case of social media users in Vietnam. This is different from previous studies; and shows that for social networking users in Vietnam, electronic word of mouth on social networks can be clear, quality and easy to understand, but the electronic information cannot help to increase their buying intention. 6.3 IMPLICATION 6.3.1 Increase the role of Creativity, Humor, Clarity

The analysis results show that Creativity, Humor, and Clarity positively affect the intention of eWOM through the role of trust. This result for management implies that if consumers perceive buzz advertisement including creativity, humor, the consumers will have more intention to spread eWOM. Based on the research results, administrators need to consider designing a buzz marketing campaign that has the following criteria:

Firstly, a buzz marketing campaign has to be unique, imaginative, really new compared to other programs, in addition the marketing campaign must be interesting and have a good idea to go with. Other factors form mechanisms that stimulate the automatic propagation of messages.

Second, the buzz marketing campaign must also be playful, humorous, fun and entertaining, and these are considered to be the motivations for the communicator to share.

Finally, the buzz marketing campaign at launch must be easy to understand and clear so that consumers can quickly get, understand and remember the message content. This is understandable when the ability and perception of each person is different. No matter how engaging and creative a rumor marketing campaign is, but consumers don't realize the message that the campaign conveys, it is difficult for them to convey that

22 information to others, and even if they convey, it is unlikely that they will convey the correct message that the administrator wants. 6.3.2 Increase the role of Credibility of information, Needs of information and Attitude towards information

The analysis results show the Credibility of that

information (message transmission channel), Needs of information demand, and Attitude towards information are factors that positively affect the usefulness of information and information adoption, which in turn influences purchase intentions customers.

With this result, business executives need to pay attention to reputable people. They can be influential individuals, or organizations, and user-driven on social networks, and at the same time often provide reliable, authentic, and accurate information. Currently, these people are known by the practitioners as KOL, or Key Opinion Leader. More specifically, these can be people who have a great influence on many other people or have a lot of friends on social networks; or can be influential communities and groups. With new technologies based on big data and machine learning, marketing administrators can fully proactively assess accurately target groups that need information as well as their attitudes towards a message that went viral on the internet through their social media behavior history. This will inevitably help in choosing a more effective messaging channel, increasing the likelihood of any successful marketing campaign deployed to the market. To put it simply, if a message from a massive buzz marketing campaign goes viral this is a success. However, if you want to support sales growth and ensure a good conversion rate, then the electronic word of mouth messages must be spread in a suitable environment, that is through channels that have many followers, reputation, in accordance with the interests / needs of consumers.

In addition, administrators also need to pay attention to the characteristics of information needs and consumer attitudes towards information in their industry. Before launching a buzz marketing campaign, surveys and assessment: In your industry, is the demand for word of mouth high, and attitude towards word of mouth is positive? It can be seen that some essential commodities such as medical equipment, gasoline ... the need to listen to word of mouth is not really much and the customer's attitude towards word of mouth is not very positive. At that time, the application of the buzz marketing strategy inevitably faces many difficulties in the transition from “buzz trend” to “buy trend”. In contrast, for some industries such as FMCG, fashion goods, the demand for searching and attitude towards word of mouth is really high. Practice has also shown that most successful buzz marketing campaigns often appear in the FMCG and fashion industries. Therefore, administrators need to consider two factors, the demand for word of mouth and attitude towards word of mouth, and inevitably these two factors will affect the way consumers feel informed. Electronic word-of-mouth is helpful, so they increase their buying intent. 6.4 LIMITATIONS

Despite many attempts to do the best possible and yield some notable results, this

study still has some limitations:

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1. The analyzed data was only collected within Can Tho City, while focusing on

connected spenders, therefore may be limited when applying to other locations;

2. Due to limited resources and implementation time, a convenient sampling method was chosen. The author acknowledges that this is a non-probabilistic sampling method, and so the method itself has natural weaknesses in generalizing other cases;

3. The role of Surprise and Subjective norm has not been tested in this study due to the unreliable scale of these two factors. For the Surprise variable, the evaluator may be able to choose a recall method that leads to a situation that does not bring the correct experience to the respondent. Regarding Subjective norm, the author thinks that this may be an important factor in the cultural characteristics in the Asian market and therefore should be further considered to re-examine the role of this factor.

4. Finally, this study fulfilled the initial goals set out and encouraged more attention towards the topic of electronic word of mouth marketing. Buzz marketing is actually an effective tool but has not been implemented by many Vietnamese businesses because very little scientific research on this topic (in the Vietnamese context) has been implemented. With this study, the author hopes future buzz marketing tactics will be applied more and more, especially in the small and medium business community, startups as this is an effective method. It requires very little resources, but it is still possible to achieve optimum effect of propagation.