Elsevier

Knowledge-Based Systems

Volume 35, November 2012, Pages 87-93
Knowledge-Based Systems

Online reputation management for improving marketing by using a hybrid MCDM model

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2012.03.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Online reputation management (ORM) has been considered as a significant tool of internet marketing. The purpose of this paper is to construct a decision model for evaluating performances and improving professional services of marketing. To investigate the interrelationship and influential weights among criteria, this study uses a hybrid MCDM model including decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), DEMATEL-based analytic network process (called DANP). The empirical findings reveal that criteria have self-effect relationships based on DEMATEL technique. According to the network relation map (NRM), the dimension that professional services of marketing should improve first when carrying out ORM is online reputation. In the five criteria for evaluation, distributed reputation systems is the most important criterion impacting ORM, followed by employees and social responsibility.

Introduction

Good corporate reputations establish customer cross-buying intentions by enhancing expected service quality of customers, reducing information costs, and increasing trust and affective commitment [11], [12]. In modern times, companies have to comprehend the actual standing of their products on the Web in that more and more consumers depend on online opinions when making purchasing decisions [14]. Online reviews of products and reviewer related data are considered as one of the most important knowledge base systems originate by online commerce websites [27]. Whereas, anyone can fill out positive or negative comments about a company online whatever the truth is, which can affect people’s perception of reputation for people and organizations. Accordingly, build online reputation was investigated in many researches for internet had been regarded as one of the most important tools for marketing [17], [22]. Moreover, since reputation is a significant determinant of marketing’s influence in businesses, reputation management becomes more critical issue and has been utilized to reduce the risk of negative interaction outcomes in this internationalized world [18]. However, the combination of these two essential concepts is rarely discussed. Online reputation management (ORM), profoundly affecting people and organizations, is thus proposed by this research to provide people and businesses with innovation strategies to manage their reputation online for improving professional services of marketing in this time of network technology.

Consequently, the purpose of this study is to build a decision model of innovation strategy to implement ORM for improving the effects of marketing. This paper shows the specific process of carrying out ORM, the influential weights of criteria for ORM, and evaluating the performances in professional services of marketing under the full consideration of ORM by a hybrid multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) model. Previous studies regarding about ORM focused on considering solely what factors would influence online reputation [1], [22], [35] and reputation management [6], [9], [23]. However, decision making needs consideration of multiple criteria, which are interdependent and feedback in real world. Also, the messages conveyed were simply what factors have influence on ORM and whether the impact was positive or negative. Therefore, these discoveries for building a decision model of ORM to improve professional services of marketing have little contribution to it. In addition, the interrelationship and influential weights among factors of ORM were seldom explored.

To enhance preceding literatures about ORM for constructing a decision model of ORM for improving the effects of marketing, this research proposes a hybrid MCDM model comprising decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), and DEMATEL-based analytical network process (DANP) to explore marketing based on ORM. We identify the criteria of ORM to establish a MCDM model for improving professional services of marketing through extensive literature review. This study utilizes DEMATEL technique to investigate the interdependent and feedback decision making among criteria to build the network relation map (NRM) by the survey of experts. Innovation strategies for improving the effects of marketing can thus be proposed by the influence values of criteria in NRM. To conquer the problems of dependence and feedback among criteria by using DANP according to the basic concept of analytical network process (ANP), proposed by Saaty [24], the influential weights of ORM’s criteria for improving professional services of marketing can be acquired. We then rank influential weights of criteria to recognize the important ones. Eventually, simple additive weighting is used to evaluate the performances of ORM in professional services of marketing. Published work concerning such a hybrid MCDM model of ORM for improving professional services of marketing is very few. To make up this gap, this research employs an empirical case in professional services of marketing in Taiwan, and provides people and organizations with a useful decision model to manage their online reputation for improving the effects of marketing.

The rest of this paper is arranged as follows: in the next section, to recognize the criteria of ORM literatures are reviewed. Afterwards, a hybrid MCDM model for constructing a decision model of ORM is explained and an empirical case of innovation strategy for improving professional services of marketing is displayed. Eventually, conclusion is presented.

Section snippets

Criteria of ORM for improving professional services of marketing

Ref. [15] argued that companies of professional services can systematically scheme out the marketing of their services for providing value satisfactions to generate and maintain profits of their customers and produce. Moreover, Ref. [25] inspected and verified various measures of value creation and reputation in search shops and found partial support for their hypothesis that higher reputation was associated with higher value creation. ORM is the process of analysis and management for people

Constructing a hybrid MCDM model combined with DEMATEL and DANP

Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is used to think multiple criteria at the same time for offering decision makers with a valuable decision model for making the optimal decision [31]. To construct the network relation map (NRM) for issues of MCDM and obtain the influential weights of criteria of the structure, the technique of decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and DEMATEL-based analytical network process (DANP) are employed by this research.

Empirical case analysis for improving professional services marketing

In this section, an empirical study is displayed to propose innovation strategies to manage reputation online for improving professional services of marketing. The data collected from experts are analyzed by utilizing a hybrid MCDM model, and the findings are displayed in helpful models for decision making.

Conclusions and remarks

ORM is used in the field of internet marketing as an important tool for professional services of marketing. It has been just developed for several years and investigated that two dimensions of online reputation and reputation management have impacts on it. Also, it is vague how the criteria influence on the two dimensions. Though the understanding of the importance of the criteria can be valuable for professional services of marketing when implementing ORM, the influential weights of criteria

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