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The importance of corporate online references in managing client perceptions and firm attractiveness is increasingly recognized. At the same time, evidence pointing to how references work in business-to-business contexts remains sporadic, with particularly limited information regarding the supplier pre-selection process in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Within the theoretical orbit of attractiveness, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate online references, Word-of-Mouth recommendations, and firm size on customer intention to initiate the business relationship with the supplier. The study takes on a mixed methods design combining qualitative interviews and focus groups with an experimental approach; both conducted with managers from SMEs based in the United Kingdom. Results indicate important preferential differences in supplier pre-selection between managers in …