DO GENERATIONAL MEMBERSHIP AND PSYCHOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCE POSITIVE WORD OF MOUTH IN A UNIVERSITY CONTEXT?

• Main Authors: Patrick Foley, Ann Mitsis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Sains Malaysia 2012-01-01
• Series: Asian Academy of Management Journal
• Subjects: Generation Y; Generation X; culturally-anchored values; positive word of mouth; higher education service provision
• Online Access: http://web.usm.my/aamj/17.1.2012/AAMJ_17.1.1.pdf

The specific question that this paper seeks to answer is: do psychographic culturally- anchored values act as antecedents to positive word of mouth intention independently of an individual's generational (Generation Y rather than Generation X) membership? This question has important implications for service-based industries like universities. Results suggest that positive word of mouth intention is influenced by psychographic characteristics. Generation Y's positive word of mouth antecedents were: high collectivism, high uncertainty avoidance, and high power distance. Generation X's had only one antecedent, high collectivism. This paper concludes by outlining the areas for future research of Generation Y and the implication of this research for university leaders tasked with enhancing positive word of mouth in current students and alumni.