Derivations of factors influencing the word-of-mouth marketing strategies for smart phone applications by using the Fuzzy DEMATEL based Network Process

The smart phone application (APP) market surges as the smart phones emerge as one of the most important consumer electronic devices during the past years. The total download numbers of APPs have reached 17.7 billion in 2011, which was doubled from 8.2 billion in 2010. In the foreseeable future, this mega trend continues. Thus, developers began to develop APPs on various platforms. The word-of-mouth marketing ((WOMM, WOM marketing) can improve APPs´ exposures to customers and increase users´ download rates and purchase intentions, as well. Though WOMM has become a new smartphone APP marketing promotion strategy, few scholars intended to explore factors influencing the definition of WOMM strategies. Thus, the authors intend to derive influences of the WOMM on mobile phone APPs by using the Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (Fuzzy DEMATEL) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP). An empirical study based on a Taiwanese App developer was introduced for verifying the analytic framework. Based on the empirical study results, the recipients´ capabilities of searching information, relationships between the message receiver(s) and communicator(s), as well as opinion leader´s viewpoints are the most important factors influencing the WOMM strategies of Smart Phone APPs.