Background Research
The Internet provides companies with many marketing tools which they can use to promote their brands and make them known to a larger audience. Electronic word-of-mouth is one of the most common and inexpensive ways businesses can utilize to popularize their products among consumers. Uber Eats is a notable food delivery company which relies on innovative technologies to provide clients with easy access to their favorite meals. Electronic word-of-mouth is one of the means of marketing used by Uber Eats, and it is interesting to analyze why people choose to share positive feedback about the company online.
As mentioned above, Uber Eats is an online platform for ordering and delivery of food from different restaurants. Uber Eats can be easily downloaded and installed on any smartphone, thus enabling people to choose their meals and pay for them using their mobile device (“How does Uber Eats work?”). The app of Uber Eats is the primary product of the company, and it contains a database of thousands of places around the world which work with the platform. Uber Eats is a branch of Uber, a popular ride-hailing provider, which also operates in the spheres of freight transportation, and package delivery.
Online marketing plays a major role in the success of modern companies, especially those which offer online services such as Uber Eats. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is an effective way of making any brand more popular, and it practically does not require businesses to spend any resources. Electronic word-of-mouth refers to the practice of posting statements about the quality of a company’s products online on the part of consumers (Nam et al., 2020). Essentially, eWOM is a communication which is generated by the client, related to their consumption experience, and targeted towards other consumers. Companies do not have much control over eWOM since people engage in such a practice mostly voluntarily with an intention to share their experiences with others. Yet, it is clear that all brands wish electronic word-of-mouth to be positive and not negative since it can directly impact their success in the market. Therefore, the main problem which concerns eWOM is the key factors which ultimately make people spread positive electronic word-of-mouth. The discovery of the main motivations of people to engage in eWOM can provide Uber Eats with marketing opportunities.
The topic of the factors behind positive electronic has been partially studied by researchers, and there are certain interesting findings. Research shows that more than 90% of people consult various sources on the Internet containing eWOM when choosing a service or product (Nam et al., 2020). Thus, eWOM is a crucial element of contemporary marketing, and there are studies presenting the motivations of people to share their consumer feedback online. The two most common reasons why people spread eWOM are the desire to help others and an inclination to deliver feedback to the company (Nam et al., 2020). There is also evidence concerning the decision of people to share positive eWOM on the Internet. Research indicates that the high level of satisfaction with a product is one of the key reasons why consumers post their positive feedback online (Huete-Alcocer, 2017). Similar findings were discovered by Fine et al. (2017), who stated that the better quality of consumer experiences and younger age of clients contributed to their willingness to share positive eWOM. Thus, current research indicates that positive eWOM can be a result of consumers’ overall favorable experience with products and services of companies.
Problem Definition
Uber Eats is a popular service used by millions of people, yet there is certainly one group of people which can be considered the target audience of the company. Specifically, the main clients of Uber Eats are people aged between 18-40 who are familiar with the new technologies and extensively utilize their smartphones and the Internet in their daily lives. Therefore, when conducting research, it is crucial to address the aforementioned group of consumers. Moreover, as the previously mentioned studies suggested, younger people tend to be more likely to share positive eWOM.
The current study aims at discovering the main factors behind the desire of consumers to spread positive eWOM. At the same time, the findings of the current research will be crucial for Uber Eats, and therefore it is important to establish the Management Decision Problem (MDP), which has to be solved. Based on the research, the MDP for Uber Eats will be to establish the clear motivation of the positive eWOM among their clients and use them in its marketing strategy.
Thus, several research questions and hypotheses can be formed based on the problem of the current study. The first research question will be: “Are there factors which motivate consumers to share positive eWOM more than others?” The hypothesis for the question is that the level of satisfaction will play a major role in people’s desire to leave positive feedback. The second question is: “Does service quality experience impact the willingness to post positive eWOM?” The hypothesis for the second question is that a better consumer experience will make people more likely to engage in positive eWOM. Finally, the third research question will be: “Does age affect the desire of consumers to make positive eWOM?” The hypothesis for the third question is that younger people will be more likely to share positive eWOM.
References
Fine, M., Gironda, J., & Petrescu, M. (2017). Prosumer motivations for electronic word-of-mouth communication behaviors. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 8(2), 280–295. Web.
How does Uber Eats work? (n.d.). Uber Eats, Web.
Huete-Alcocer, N. (2017). A literature review of word of mouth and electronic word of mouth: Implications for consumer behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1–4. Web.
Nam, K., Baker, J., Ahmad, N., & Goo, J. (2020). Determinants of writing positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth: Empirical evidence for two types of expectation confirmation. Decision Support Systems, 129, 1–47. Web.