WHY Do Consumers Generate WOM?
I recently read an article where the researcher implicitly assumed that consumers engage in WOM to persuade others that their opinion is correct. Based on others’ research as well as interviews I have conducted, this assumption may be flawed. Certainly, some consumers do seek validation of their opinions some of the time, but there are MANY other reasons that consumers generate WOM. For example:
(some of these links may be dead for some of you, so I also included the references)
• ALTRUISM – consuners may generate WOM simply to help other consumers make better consumption decisions (Price, Feick & Guskey 1995)
• REVENGE – consumers may act as vigilantes, policing the market and seeking revenge against firms that have done them wrong (Richins 1983)
• COGNITIVE DISSONANCE – could be construed as persuasion, but more likely consumers seek to reduce uncertainty or to validate that their judgment of a product is correct (Engel, Kegerreis and Blackwell. 1969)
• TO CONNECT & BE SOCIAL – Sometimes consumers talk about products and services simply to make conversation. (see Idil Cakim’s blog)
• MORAL HAZARD - may discourage consumers from generating WOM. For example, research demonstrates that when moral hazard is high, weak ties are frail, that is, when it is not in consumers’ best interest to share information, they don’t, particularly to their lesser-known acquaintances (Frenzen & Nakamoto 1993)
• RECIPROCITY – Consumers will feel compelled to reciprocate with WOM when they themselves feel indebted to a potential receiver of information (for example because they received valuable information from the receiver), or because they desire the opportunity to similarly obligate the receiver (Engel, Kegerreis and Blackwell. 1969); Gatignon and Robertson 1986)
• SELF-ENHANCEMENT - consumers may generate WOM when they sense an opportunity to improve their power or status by doing so (Engel, Kegerreis and Blackwell 1969) ; Feick and Price 1987 (http://www.jstor.org/view/00222429/ap040207/04a00080/0); Gatignon and Robertson 1986)
When I consider this list, I wonder which motivations are most prevalent? And what other motivations inspire consumers to generate WOM? I would love to hear your thoughts.
