The evaluation of effects of blogs on the cruiser’s decision making process. An empirical analysis

The present paper examines the impact of blogs (and other similar tools, as virtual communities, newsgroups, chat-rooms, product review sites) and the effect of e-WoM (driven by Internet) on the cruisers’ decision-making process with respect to the following topics: selection of cruise companies, of destinations and of cruise ships. The paper grounds on an on-line survey. On the basis of empirical results, the study, performing an applied simulation model, examines, in particular, the power of Internet and blog as potential determinants of cruisers’ decisions. The results show that a message is spread over a social network much faster when some sort of e-WoM tool is involved, such as a dedicated blog or a rating website. This involves that such non institutional new opinion leaders are a very important mean for a marketing strategy and for the corporate reputation management of a cruising enterprise.