THE EFFECT OF FEEDBACK ON RECOMMENDATION RECEIVERS AND BRANDS

Abstract

Purpose- While it is common for consumers to advise about products and services, it is important to receive feedback about their recommendations. An important body of work in the marketing literature had focused on the consequences of product and services recommendations (eg Fitzsimons and Lehmann 2004). While the literature has predominantly focused on how recommendation providers are affected, there are limited sources of information on the relationship between recommendation providers and feedback providers in return (Claus et al. 2012; Moore 2012; Shen and Sengupta 2018). This research contributes to this knowledge gap by investigating how the recommendation providers update their current relationship with both the product and the feedback providers, after receiving feedback about their recommended products. Considering that the recommendation process of the consumers about the products does not end immediately, and that those who receive advice make this process dynamic by giving feedback, our study contributes to a more realistic and complete investigation of the results of the recommendation process. Methodology- In this study, data were collected online through a pilot survey study, as well as four experimental studies. The participants were either university students that received partial credits or participants that were recruited from Prolific that received monetary compensation. The gap in the word-of-mouth marketing literature was filled by examining the effects of positive or negative feedback after recommendation on both brand attitude and the evaluation of consumers who received advice and also gave feedback. Findings- When the findings of the research are evaluated, the positive feedback received after the advice given, the recommendation recipient evaluations are higher than the negative feedback. The mediating role of the similarity perception (between the recommendation and feedback provider) in the evaluation of the recommendation receipient has been demonstrated. Secondly, it was seen that the product evaluations were higher after receiving positive feedback than after receiving negative feedback. The perception of being betrayed by the brand or feeling gratitude towards the brand has a mediating role in the evaluation of the product after the feedback. Conclusion- As a result of this study, it has been shown that the feedback received after the recommendation will not only affect the product evaluations, but also the evaluations of the recommendation recipients. While feelings of betrayal or gratitude by the product played a role in product evaluations, the mediating role of person similarity emerged in those receiving feedback. In this context, it is striking that consumers reorganize their bilateral relations while giving product recommendations and receiving feedback. When the results of the study are evaluated, consumers should be prepared that their relationship with other consumers to which they give advice may also change in line with the feedback. This research provides significant contributions to word of mouth marketing literature by demonstrating the role of feedback. Keywords: Recommendation, feedback, social influencer, word of mouth marketing. JEL Codes: M30, M31