Analysis of Referral Networks in Marketing: Methods and Illustration
针对传统调查方法无法揭示口碑传播的人际网络特性，本文提出用网络分析法研究推荐行为，并通过案例展示了抽样、数据收集和分析过程，检验了关系强度对推荐流的影响。
Though many marketers—particularly those in the service sector—depend on word of mouth (WOM) for referrals, the traditional sample survey methodology used in previous WOM research does not explicate the interpersonal nature of informal communication. The authors propose network analysis as an alternative method for research on referral behavior. The sampling, data-gathering, and analytic aspects of referral network analysis are described in general terms and illustrated with a case study which, in addition to yielding interesting descriptive information about a service marketer's referral network, affords a test of the strength-of-ties hypothesis in influencing referral flows.