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Analysis of Referral Networks in Marketing: Methods and Illustration
Abstract
Though many marketers—particularly those in the service sector—depend on word of mouth (WOM) for referrals, the traditional sample survey methodology used in previous WOM research does not explicate the interpersonal nature of informal communication. The authors propose network analysis as an alternative method for research on referral behavior. The sampling, data-gathering, and analytic aspects of referral network analysis are described in general terms and illustrated with a case study which, in addition to yielding interesting descriptive information about a service marketer's referral network, affords a test of the strength-of-ties hypothesis in influencing referral flows.
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Cited by
Using Online Conversations to Study Word-of-Mouth Communication
Godes, D., & Mayzlin, D. (2004) · Marketing Science · doi:10.1287/mksc.1040.0071 · Cited by 2,601
Harrison-Walker, L. J. (2001) · Journal of Service Research · doi:10.1177/109467050141006 · Cited by 1,583
The effects of incentives, deal proneness, satisfaction and tie strength on word‐of‐mouth behaviour
Wirtz, J., & Chew, P. (2002) · International Journal of Service Industry Management · doi:10.1108/09564230210425340 · Cited by 393
Social effects on customer retention
Nitzan, I., & Libai, B. (2011) · Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1509/jm.10.0209 · Cited by 302
Twenty‐Five Years of Word‐of‐Mouth Studies: A Critical Review of Tourism Research
Confente, I. (2015) · International Journal of Tourism Research · doi:10.1002/jtr.2029 · Cited by 111
Metadata
- Authors
- Reingen, P. H., & Kernan, J. B.
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1986-11
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 370-378
- ISSN
- 0022-2437 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-7193
- OpenAlex
- W2327881358
- Cited by
- 339
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 2.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Reingen, P. H., & Kernan, J. B. (1986). Analysis of Referral Networks in Marketing: Methods and Illustration. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378602300407
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Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
