01355nas a2200193   4500008004100000022001400041245007100055210006900126260004200195300001000237490000600247520075000253653002701003653002901030653002701059653002001086100001901106856003601125       2014                        eng d  a1927-032100aElectronic Word-of-Mouth Communication for Local Service Providers0 aElectronic WordofMouth Communication for Local Service Providers  aOttawabTalent First Networkc04/2014  a35-420 v43 aWord-of-mouth communication is a valuable means of marketing for small, local service providers. Face-to-face transmission is most prevalent, but electronic word-of-mouth is on the rise. Through the results of an agent-based simulation, this article shows that the penetration of word-of-mouth for a small service provider, who is locally restricted due to the inseparability of production and consumption, could benefit less from a growth in word-of-mouth connections than a larger service provider. Only if the added electronic connections are mainly local, small and larger service providers have similar effects on the penetration of word-of-mouth. The article includes a discussion of how small service providers could react to this threat.10aagent-based simulation10aelectronic word-of-mouth10alocal service provider10athreshold model1 aSchütze, Nora  uhttp://timreview.ca/article/783