Sampling Plan

In Taiwan, there are more and more WOM information delivered on the Internet. This study attempted to take online WOM information on BBS sites as an example to understand the effect of post-purchase WOM on satisfaction. For the consideration of cost and feasibility, the study used the most popular BBS site, PTT, as the medium to deliver the internet questionnaires.

27 billboards (e.g., online shopping, shopping, customers, hotel, traveling, and outdoors billboard) which are more likely to contain WOM information about products, services, hotels and trips were picked to post the hyperlink of the research website on them. The reason to select these billboards is that their browsers might have high involvement of WOM information and that might strengthen the effect of post-purchase WOM manipulation.

The 9 versions of internet questionnaires were randomly assigned to the 27 billboards (each version was posted on three billboards). An article in which contained the introduction of the research, the url of the research website and the researcher’s name and institute would be posted on each billboard, and then it would be promised that every participant would be rewarded 200 PTT virtual dollars after completing the experiment to enhance the motivation of

participation.

3.6 Measures

3.6.1 Expectations

Part items of the scale (item 1 ~item 5) were developed for the study conducted by Voss, Parasuraman, and Grewal (1998). The items are intended to measure some quality-related aspects of a service provider thought to be true by a potential customer prior to actually making the purchase and/or receiving the service. The items are most appropriate for a hotel but might need

to be adjusted for other types of service providers. Further, they are stated tentatively since respondents would not have actually visited the service provider at the time they completed the scale. The remaining items of the scale (item 6 ~item 9) were developed for the present research to measure the expectations of the suite quality. The complete scale adopted by this research is shown below. Cronbach’s α in the pretest is 0.976.

If I were to stay at this hostel (hotel)¹:

1. the hostel (hotel)¹ would offer excellent overall service.

2. the hostel (hotel)¹ would offer accurate and dependable service.

3. the employees would be courteous at all time.

4. the employees would provide prompt assistance.

5. the employees would provide personal, individualized attention.

6. the hostel would offer a excellent quality suite.

7. the equipments and materials in the suite would be complete.

8. the suite provided by the hostel would be clean.

9. the suite provided by the hostel would be comfortable.

Responses to all items were made using a seven-point scale anchored by definitely would not (1) and definitely would (7).

1 the original term in Voss, Parasuraman, and Grewal’s study (1998)

3.6.2 Performance

Part items of the scale (item1~item5) were developed for the study conducted by Voss, Parasuraman, and Grewal (1998). The items are intended to measure a customer’s quality-related perceptions of a service provider after making a purchase and/or receiving the service. The items are most appropriate for a hotel but might be adjusted for other types of service providers. The remaining items of the scale (item6~item9) were developed for the present research to measure the perceptions about the suite quality. The complete scale adopted by this research is shown below. Cronbach’s α in the pretest is 0.983.

1. The service provide by this hostel (hotel)¹ was:

very low quality/ very high quality

2. The service provided by this hostel (hotel)¹ was:

unreliable/ reliable

3. The hostel’s (hotel’s)¹ employees were:

discourteous/ courteous

4. The hostel’s (hotel’s)¹ employees were:

not helpful/ helpful

5. The hostel’s (hotel’s)¹ employees were:

uncaring/ caring

6. The suite provide by the hostel was:

very low quality/ very high quality

7. The equipments and materials provided by the hostel were:

incomplete/ complete

8. The suite provided by the hostel was:

unclean/ clean

9. The suite provided by the hostel was:

uncomfortable/ comfortable

Responses to all items were made using a seven-point scale using the anchors shown.

1 the original term in Voss, Parasuraman, and Grewal’s study (1998)

3.6.3 Disconfirmation

The method for establishing the disconfirmation scale originated from Oliver’s suggestions (1997). According to the attributes of expectations and performance scale, the study developed a nine-item measurement to capture the subject’s summary judgment of disconfirmation on a

“better than expected-worse than expected” scale. This kind of disconfirmation scale has been adopted by much previous research (e.g., Oliver, 1980; Churchill & Surprenant, 1982). The complete scale adopted by this research is shown below. Cronbach’s α in the pretest is 0.988.

1. The quality of the service provide by this hostel was:

2. The reliability of the service provide by this hostel was:

3. The courtesy of the hostel’s employees was:

4. The helpfulness of the hostel’s employees was:

5. The degree that the hotel’s employees cared for my needs was:

6. The quality of the suite provided by the hostel was:

7. The completeness of the equipment and materials provided by the hostel were:

8. The cleanliness of the suite provided by the hostel was:

9. The comfort of the suite provided by the hostel was:

Responses to all items were made using a seven-point anchored by “much worse than expected”

(1), “as expected” (4) and “much better than expected” (7).

3.6.4 Satisfaction

Part items (item1~item3) of the scale were original to the study by Voss, Parasuraman, and Grewal (1998). The items are intended to measure the degree to which a customer of a service provider is satisfied with a service that has been experienced or received. The remaining items of the scale (item4~item6) were developed for the present research to measure the perceptions about the suite quality. The complete scale adopted by this research is shown below. Cronbach’s α in the pretest is 0.966.

1. I was satisfied with the service provided.

2. I was delighted with the service provided.

3. I was unhappy with the service provided.

4. I was satisfied with the suite provided.

5. I was delighted with the suite provided.

6. I was unhappy with the suite provided.

Responses to all items were made using a seven-point Likert-type scale using the following anchors: disagree very strongly (1) and agree very strongly (7).

3.6.5 Perceived Performance Discrepancy with Others

This study developed two items for the purpose of testing the success of post-purchase WOM manipulation. The items are shown below. Cronbach’s α in the pretest is 0.827.

1. I thought the quality of the suite others had experienced was:

2. I thought the service quality others had experienced was:

Responses to all items were made using a five-point anchored by “much worse than I experienced” (1), “as I experienced” (3) and “much better than I experienced” (5).