Guerrilla marketing’s effects on Gen Y’s word-of-mouth intention – a mediation of credibility

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate guerrilla marketing characteristics into advertising model through which the perceived effects of guerrilla marketing on Gen Y are identified, and to examine such effects on word of mouth (WOM) activity with the mediation of message credibility. Design/methodology/approach – The study obtains its exploratory purpose through quantitative method by asking Gen Y participants about their perceptions of 20 guerrilla advertisements in the questionnaires. Those advertisements and the advertising scales are selectively chosen from previous literature so that the results truthfully reflect the effects of guerrilla marketing under consumer perspective. Findings – The results show that, creativity, as a combination of novelty and relevance, has the strongest direct and indirect effect on WOM intention. Similarly, surprise factor, the claimed root philosophy of guerrilla marketing, is confirmed when it also impacts directly and indirectly consumer behaviour. Message credibility plays a meaningful mediation role, and through this, message clarity manifests its indirect influence on WOM. Originality/value – The study supports the belief that guerrilla marketing is suitable for any business because of its effectiveness and efficiency. More significantly, the awareness of Gen Y consumers of the advertisements, with or without knowing that these ads belong to guerrilla advertising, strengthens the expectation that guerrilla marketing in general and guerrilla advertising in particular are recommended choices when they reflect what common marketing and advertising should be.