New Report on Disclosure and Organized WOM

For most people, whether or not someone is affiliated with a marketing organization does not matter as long as the affiliation is disclosed. That's the key finding in a study on disclosure and organized word of mouth programs conducted by Walter Carl of Northeastern University. The study concluded that 75% of people engaged in conversations felt it was more important that they trusted the WOM agent and that they knew that person was providing an honest opinion and that their best interests were being looked after.

Other key findings include:

* Disclosure does not generally have a negatively effect on key metrics like credibility, inquiry, use, purchase, and pass along/relay.

* Talking about a brand or service with an agent increased the believability of a complementary print, radio, TV, or Web ad.

* Participation in organized word of mouth marketing programs does not undermine the effectiveness of word of mouth communication.

Disclosure: Walter Carl is a member of WOMMA's Advisory Board.

Source: Walter Carl, Northeastern University, "To Tell Or Not To Tell? Assessing the Practical Benefits of Disclosure for Word-of-Mouth Marketing Agents and Their Conversational Partners".

Get the paper

Read Walter Carl's blog post about the report

Posted by WOMMA Editor at January 18, 2006 | Link

Online Communities Becoming WOM Hotspots

Social networking is taking off and community sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Tickle are becoming hotspots for younger consumers to learn, talk, and share information about products and entertainment. comScore recently surveyed the social networking landscape as a way of measuring just how big it's become. In October, 2005, MySpace attracted 24.3 million unique visitors, Facebook 9.5 million, and Tickle 5.6 million.

Other key findings include:

* MySpace visitors were 139% more likely to be aged 12-17
and 60% more likely to be 18-24.

* Facebook visitors were 43% more likely to be 12-17 and
283% more likely to be 18-24.

The report also issued an advisory to marketers, recommending that they educate themselves first on the "nuances of marketing" in the space before attempting to tap into it.

Source: comScore Networks, "October 2005 survey".

Read the press release

Posted by WOMMA Editor at January 14, 2006 | Link