The author has granted a nonexclusive Licence ailowing the National Library of Canada to reproduce, loan, distriiute or seil copies of this thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats.The author retains ownership of the copyright in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it may be printed or otheMrise reproduced without the author's permission.L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive permettant à la Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou vendre des copies de cette thèse sous la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique.L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent ABSTRACTThis thesis seeks to investigate the processes of word-of-mouth marketing within a services purchase decision context. Although word-of-mouth processes. as they Muence service purchase decisions, are powerful and cornplex, they are not weii understood. Nor does there exist an abundance of information within the research literature regarding this subject are& Accordingly, a proposed conceptual model has been developed which airns to explain the effects of salient constnicts on the ultimate &pendent variable: the influence of word-of-mouth on service purchase decision. The proposed mode1 includes the independent variabIes of expertise (Sender's and Receiver's), perceived risk, tie strength and the extent to which the word-of-mouth message is sought. Based upon a review of the literature, nine distinct hypotheses are proposeci. Findings resulted in a i l but two of the nine hypotheses k i n g vaMateci. Further, ail of the aforementioned constructs affect, eit her directly or indirectly, the inauence of Sender's word-of-mouth on the Receiver 's purc hase decision, 1 wish to acknowledge my mother, Edna, whose immutable love, kindness and unwavenng encouragement was instrumental in the completion of this pmjecî, in addition to al1 academic and Life accomplishments.I also wish to recognize rny supervisor, Dr Harvir Bansai, whose patience, dedication, guidance and professionalism made the entire production of this thesis, a most exithg and t d y positive learning experience, He is one of the finest professors with whom I have ever had the pleasure of working, 1 am deeply indebted to Major-General Bryan Stephenson, rny mentor and counciilor. The faith and trust that he placed in me was fidamental in facilitahg the opportunity of pursuhg M ' A studies.

Purpose – Primarily, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the interaction and direct effects of tie strength between sender and receiver of word of mouth (WOM) and the receiver’s service purchase decision involvement on WOM influence. A secondary aim is to investigate how a distinctive conceptualization of perceived risk, consisting of two types (outcome risk and psychosocial risk), affects service purchase decision involvement. A conceptual model incorporating these constructs and associated hypotheses is developed and tested. Design/methodology/approach – In a survey of actual service consumers, respondents were asked to recall a recent instance where they had received service purchase information via WOM, and relate their responses to this instance. Established scales were used to measure the constructs. The hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – Principally, findings demonstrate a strong interaction effect between service purchase decision involvement and tie strength. Also, results highlight the complexity of the perceived risk construct, suggesting that it is appropriately modeled as two types: outcome risk, and psychosocial risk. Research limitations/implications – This research has contributed to the service marketing literature by testing a model that predicts WOM influence. Evidence confirmed that the effect of service purchase decision involvement on WOM influence is moderated by tie strength. Additionally, a conceptualization of two different types of risk associated with purchase decisions was suggested, together with empirical confirmation of their hypothesized antecedent effects on service purchase decision involvement. Findings have special implications for the literatures of persuasion, social and interpersonal influence, as well as consumer behavior in general. Practical implications – To harness the power of WOM, managers should understand who their target audience is and how consumers are related to each other (tie strength) and to the service purchase decision (service purchase decision involvement). Recommendations are made with specific illustrations of how firms can leverage tie strength under conditions of low service purchase decision involvement to enhance WOM influence. Originality/value – The formidable power of WOM wields substantial influence on consumers, particularly within a service (vs goods) purchase context, typically characterized by higher perceived risk and lower search qualities. The significant interaction between tie strength and service purchase decision involvement is a unique contribution to the service WOM literature.

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Journal rankings convey important information to researchers and influence processes related to promotion, remuneration, research funding, and resource allocation in academe. The present research uses direct responses from an international sample of 203 active marketing scholars in a web-based survey to endogenously rank 138 marketing journals by quality, awareness, and importance. We employ regression estimation with nested random journal-within-tier effects to comprehensively rank the marketing journals into four ordered tiers (A–D), and then in turn, subdivide journals in each tier, into “upper,” “middle,” and “lower” groups (e.g. Tier A: A+, A and A−). Our methodology, Active Scholar Assessment (ASA), produces an independent ranking of marketing journals that aggregates individual expert opinion regarding journals by researchers from 68 countries. Subsequently, we compare our ASA-developed marketing journal rankings and categories with prominent citation-based ranking systems (Scimago, Clarivate Analytics’ Journal Citation Reports, Association of Business Schools, and the Australian Business Deans Council) to demonstrate that the opinions of active scholars are comparatively more stable and capture additional information (that is not reflected by computations based solely on citations), and provide useful strategic information and direction to scholars.

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