Reliability/Quality, Performance/Design, Innovativeness: Their Different Roles in Generating Buzz for Automobile

Abstract

This empirical research explains the relationship between products attributes of an automobile and its volume of word of mouth and the mechanism of stimulating positive word of mouth and minimizing negative word of mouth? The primary findings are as follows: (1) failing reliability/quality of an automobile stimulates negative word of mouth whereas failing its performance/design does not necessarily lead to negative word of mouth. (2) Improving performance/design of a car produces positive word of mouth whereas improving its reliability/quality does not necessarily translate to positive word of mouth. (3) A new (re) designed model drives more both positive and negative word of mouth than a nonnew one. Similarly, a car model with a short history drives more both positive and negative word of mouth than a model with a long history.