Readers Reply: Gossip is a Form of WOM
Last week, we wrote about researchers studying gossip as a powerful form of word of mouth. We asked readers to let us know what they thought and here's a sample:
"Gossip is definitely WOM. It is the spreading of often negative, often unsubstantiated 'news' about people, ideas, products, services, beliefs, etc. Usually it's news about other people's behavior, and it's rarely firsthand, although it has to start somewhere. In its broadest use, it's buzz. Narrowly, it's talking about other people."
-- George Silverman, Market Navigation
"Is Gossip WOM? Yes ... The irony is that it was seen as 'negative' when attached to women prior to them having economic clout. Now that WOM has given gossip a new name and went cross-gender, it's something "positive" that everyone wants to leverage."
-- Mary Hunt, Interpret-Her
More info:
http://womma.org/pages/2005/08/does_gossip_qua.htm
