Recommend or Not: Is Generation the Key? A Perspective from the SOR Paradigm for Online Stores in Colombia
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
First of all, I would like to congratulate authors for the present research because it is always important to use this model in Colombia.
As you stated, Word-of-mouth (WOW) behavior has become one of the most effective marketing communications and thus, this paper is quite important.
In the current paper you have carried a quantitative study was carried out using a sample of 537 e-commerce customers who were surveyed with a structured questionnaire.
The theoretical discussion is quite good and appropriate for the paper’s goal.
Final results were analyzed with structural equations, and a multigroup analysis was presented to find the differences between generation X and generation Y.
However, there are some minor aspects that can improve the paper's quality.
This paper is about Colombia, but almost nothing is stated neither in the title of the document as well as in the keywords. So I suggest to correct this issue to capture more audience.
I also think it would be important to say something about Colombia’s age structure so that readers can better understand this society.
I also advise to present the questionnaire as an appendix since this is a very important tool to understand the overall document.
Author Response
We want to thank the editor and reviewers who take their time to read and revise our work, improving it with their comments. English quality has been revised in two ways: the Grammarly tool was used in the text written by non-English speaker native authors, and professor van der Woude, a native English speaker, revised the entire document. Our responses are below.
Reviewer # 1
This paper is about Colombia, but almost nothing is stated neither in the title of the document as well as in the keywords. So I suggest to correct this issue to capture more audience.
We have addressed this issue by adding the words “in Colombia” to the title, and “Colombia” as a keyword.
I also think it would be important to say something about Colombia’s age structure so that readers can better understand this society.
We added section 3.1. Study Context to provide this information and additional data about Colombia’s basic indicators of ICT use in households.
I also advise to present the questionnaire as an appendix since this is a very important tool to understand the overall document.
The questionnaire has been added as an appendix.
Reviewer 2 Report
Thank you for the submission. In general, the topic is interesting, but the paper needs some revisions. Please review the article thoroughly and consider using a professional proofreading service to improve the style of the article and the quality of the English. Many sentences are unclear and without the references. There are also many errors.
Introduction: What were the research questions? The purpose and the objective of the study were not clearly explained in the study.
Literature review: Hypotheses development should be moved from Methodology to here. They need to support the research questions.
Methodology: This section is inadequate. How was data collected? How were study participants recruited? When was the study conducted and sample was collected? Any pilot study was done? What's the result? Was the survey modified?
Results: What is the demographic background of the study participants?
Discussion: The practical implications are relatively weak, as more detailed industry solutions need to be brought to light. This section needs to be extended.
Author Response
We want to thank the editor and reviewers who take their time to read and revise our work, improving it with their comments. English quality has been revised in two ways: the Grammarly tool was used in the text written by non-English speaker native authors, and professor van der Woude, a native English speaker, revised the entire document. Our responses are below.
Introduction: What were the research questions? The purpose and the objective of the study were not clearly explained in the study.
Three research questions have been added to lines 117-122. The purpose and aim of the study have been explained in the abstract and introduction: “this research aims to find the determinants of WOM in generations X and Y to know the meanings that these consumers give to the elements proposed within the SOR paradigm” (also see lines 123-125).
Literature review: Hypotheses development should be moved from Methodology to here. They need to support the research questions.
Done. The research model was moved to the literature review.
Methodology: This section is inadequate. How was data collected? How were study participants recruited? When was the study conducted and sample was collected? Any pilot study was done? What's the result? Was the survey modified?
Done. Please refer to section 3.2.
Results: What is the demographic background of the study participants?
Section 4.1. was added to present the demographics of the study participants.
Discussion: The practical implications are relatively weak, as more detailed industry solutions need to be brought to light. This section needs to be extended.
We have extended discussions and implications of the study. Please refer to sections 5 and 6.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Thanks for the revision. However, there are some issues need to be revised before moving forward.
1. In the methodology, how pilot study was conducted? How survey reliability and validity were checked and ensured?
2. Author(s) mentioned several limitations of the study, yet did not provide any relevant recommendation for future research. Each limitation should follow up with a recommendation.
3. Please review the article thoroughly and consider using a professional proofreading service to improve the style of the article and the quality of the English.
Author Response
- In the methodology, how pilot study was conducted? How survey reliability and validity were checked and ensured?
The previous study, which we mentioned, consisted of a qualitative study with the principal actors in e-commerce in Colombia. The study served to find insights and the main problems in the sector. The survey instrument was made with scales approved in the literature. Their reliability and validity had already been stated. However, for our study, we presented a confirmatory factor analysis where the readers can see all the scales are validated and their reliability is correct (see 4.2. Reliability and Validity of the Measurement Instrument, page 9).
2. Author(s) mentioned several limitations of the study yet did not provide any relevant recommendation for future research. Each limitation should follow up with a recommendation.
This issue has been addressed. The reviewer can check it in the last paragraph.
3. Please review the article thoroughly and consider using a professional proofreading service to improve the style of the article and the quality of the English.
We have double-checked the paper by an English-native speaker and improved the English quality.
