本研究分為二部份，第一部份是關於某產品或服務口碑訊息影響的研究，過去的研究多聚焦某一服務或產品本身的口碑所産生的影響，並未考量競爭者及競爭者口碑存在的狀況，故本研究首先驗證在考慮競爭者口碑訊息存在的情況下，口碑訊息對消費者影響的狀況；第二部份是關於推薦獎勵計劃，相關文獻認為行銷人員使用財務和非財務性激勵的方式創造外部口碑(Word-of-Mouth; WOM)的效果是不同的，但卻很少有實證研究討論這些差異如何影響推薦獎勵計劃的設計與對新顧客的回應。因此，本研究採用三個實驗設計，以及建立四個不同的假說探究競爭者口碑訊息的影響及不同的獎勵方式對說服的有效性。第一部份研究結果發現彼此競爭的産品的口碑訊息會影響消費者的購買意願，即消費者對某産品(或服務) 的購買意願在比較某産品及其競爭產品的相關口碑訊息後會産生變化，依據此驗證勾勒出消費者口碑比較的概念性模型，將産品(或服務)於市場競爭中口碑比較後所處的位置，區分成有利區(Favorable area)、競爭區(Competitive area)及有害區(Harmful area)。本模型可作為競爭者分析的工具，並有助於預測某産品於市場的績效；第二部份推薦獎勵計劃研究結果發現，對於新會員而言，高渉入的產品應該提供他們非財務性且實用型的獎勵；而對於低渉入的產品應該提供他們財務性或非財務性且享樂型的獎勵可更進一步增加推薦獎勵計劃被接受的可能性。最後，本研究的管理意涵和研究限制也將進行討論。

This study includes two parts. Part one is regarding the influence of WOM messages. Previous research on the influence of WOM messages has primarily focused on a specific service or product without considering the existence of competitors and their WOM messages. This study first examined the influence of WOM messages on a product (service) with considering the existence of competitors simultaneously. Part two is related to the research of referral reward program. Marketers use financial and non-financial incentives to create word-of-mouth (WOM) communication, but few researchers have explored how these variances might affect the design of referral programs and new customer responses to them. In this study we adopted experimental designs and established four hypotheses to investigate the influence of competitors’ WOM messages on consumers and the persuasive effect of different referral reward programs, such as member-get-member setup.
Our findings in part one show that consumers compare WOM messages among competitors and the result of comparison influences consumers’ purchase intention toward a product (service or brand). Based on the findings, this study proposed a WOM comparison model which contains three areas, favorable (F), competitive (C), and harmful (H) areas. This model can serves as a tool for analyzing competitors, managing WOM marketing, and facilitates the forecasts of operating performance. Findings in part two show that for new members, high-involvement products should provide them with non-financial utilitarian rewards, whereas low-involvement products should offer them financial rewards or non-financial hedonic rewards to further increase the possibility of referral program acceptance. Additional managerial implications and limitations are discussed.
Keywords: word of mouth, referral reward program, persuasion likelihood, consumer behavior

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