eWOM, eReferral and gender in the virtual community

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of electronic referral (eReferral) marketing and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on brand image and purchase intention, coupled with the moderating effect of gender in the relationship. Design/methodology/approach - Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the interplay between the proposed variables, using a random sample of 308 respondents in Cyprus. Findings - The empirical results suggest the following: eReferral does influence brand image, and the impact is significant with women only; eWOM influences brand image, and the impact is more significant with women than men; eWOM influences purchase intention, and the impact is the same for both genders; brand image influences purchase intention, and the impact is more significant with women than men. Research limitations/implications - Marketing managers can benefit from these competitive advantage tools. Brand image, awareness and sales volume can be increased by utilizing eWOM or eReferral, depending on the product and/or service functionality as well as gender. Originality/value - While there is a substantial research stream on eWOM, to the best of the authors' knowledge no research has differentiated eReferral from eWOM. This paper provides useful insights regarding the two concepts.