1.2 e-WOM as a Marketing Tool

User-generated reviews are effortlessly accessible by Internet users. Research indicates that many internet users are believed to participate in one or more online communities either directly or indirectly ( Chan et al., 2011 ). Also, since 2004, there has been an increase in the word-of-mouth (WOM) industry which, inclusive of any e-WOM activity, suggests that the importance of the Internet as a key marketing tool cannot be underestimated (Chan et al., 2011). In other words, significant income can originate from this type of indirect and passive form of marketing.

Existing platforms that dispense this category of information include: Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Places, FourSquare, Foodspotting, toptable, Harden's, Zagat and Urbanspoon. A majority of these platforms offer their services in the form of mobile 'apps'. Mobile applications are growing increasingly popular as the method of choice for consumers in providing recommendation services to other guests.