The authors study the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing vehicles. Because social network sites record the electronic invitations sent out by existing members, outbound WOM may be precisely...

Today, consumer reviews are available on the Internet for a large number of product categories. The pros and cons expressed in this way uncover individually perceived strengths and weaknesses of the respective products, whereas the usually assigned product ratings represent their overall...