Evaluation method for service branding using word-of-mouth data

The development and spread of Internet technology enables service firms to obtain a high capability for brand information transmission as well as relative customer feedback data collection. In this paper, we propose a new evaluation method for service branding using firm and consumer data on the Internet. Based on the 7Ps of service marketing (Product, Price, Place and time, Promotion, People, Physical evidence, Process), which are key viewpoints for branding, we develop a brand evaluation system including coding methods for word-of-mouth (WoM) and corporate introductory information on the Internet in order to identify both the customer's service value recognition vector and the firm's service value proposition vector. Our system quantitatively clarifies both the customer's service value recognition of the firm and the firm's strengths in service value proposition, thus making it possible to analyze service brand communication gaps between firms and consumers. We applied this system to the Japanese Ryokan hotel industry. Using six ryokan hotels' data on Jyaran-net and Rakuten travel, we created a total of 983 codes from WoM information and analyzed their service brand value according to three price-based categories. We found that the characteristics of the customers' service value recognition vector differ according to the price categories. In addition, the system showed that there is a firm that has a different service value proposition vector from the customers' recognition vector. This helps to analyze corporate service brand strategy and has significance as a system technology supporting service management. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 95(12): 2128, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.11442