USER-GENERATED CONTENT AS WORD-OF-MOUTH

Abstract

The objective of this research is to identify two harvestable word-of-mouth (WOM) proxies and test their construct validity. Bivariate measures of association of user-generated content (UGC) data compiled from Facebook.com on sixty-one firms across nine markets suggest the WOM proxies were positively correlated, maintaining varying relationships with firms’ stock market performance. Study two uses time-series analysis to demonstrate that these WOM proxies change in tandem with stock prices, implying that they are sensitive to firm behaviors and that UGC is a leading indicator of stock market performance. As such, the findings provide managers with a tool to more accurately assess impressions of the firm.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edward Ramirez

Edward Ramirez (Ph.D., Florida State University), Associate Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, [email protected].

Roland Gau

Roland Gau (Ph.D., Illinois University at Urbana-Champagne), Assistant Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, [email protected].

John Hadjimarcou

John Hadjimarcou (Ph.D., Kent State University), Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, [email protected].

Zhenning (Jimmy) Xu

Zhenning (Jimmy) Xu (Ph.D., University of Texas at El Paso), Assistant Professor of Marketing, School of Business, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME, [email protected].