October 2006
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Be part of the only conference on metrics and standards dedicated to quantifying word of mouth marketing -- WOMMA's Word of Mouth Research Symposium, Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C. Co-located with WOMMA's Word of Mouth Summit, the biggest word of mouth event ever, our Research Symposium will satisfy your hunger for the newest data and the biggest numbers.
Every major word of mouth research expert will be here -- you need to be, too! All attendees will receive a free copy of our exclusive, 200+ page research book, Measuring Word of Mouth Vol. 2. Last year's event sold out, so register today.
Event highlights:
1) 20 fascinating research papers
2) Deep discussion of measurement issues
3) The best data and research available
4) The biggest research names and experts
Register
While social networking sites are certainly competing, a recent analysis from WOMMA member comScore Media Metrix illustrates that each has its own core, age-based demographic. comScore reported that MySpace.com, on top of having enormous visitor growth, has gained popularity among older users.
Findings:
* Teens (users aged 12 to 17) represent only 11.9% of MySpace's audience -- a drop from 24.7% in August 2005.
* Internet users aged 35 to 54 account for 40.6% of MySpace's visitor base -- up 8.2% in the past year.
* 68% of MySpace users, 71% of Friendster users, and 43.7% of Facebook users are over age 25.
* 34% of Facebook users, 18.1% of MySpace users, and 15.6% of users are 18- to 24-year-olds.
* Only 11.3% of all internet users are 18- to 24-year-olds.
Learn more
"Tech-fluentials" may get their name by using the latest technology to generate word of mouth, but they still use traditional media sources to validate the information they spread, according to a recent survey by WOMMA member Burson-Marsteller.
Study findings:
* 80% of tech-fluentials say they read blogs but conduct additional research to confirm the information they find.
* 64% fact check blogs against news/magazine sites
* 44% validate facts using print articles in newspapers/magazines
* Nearly half of tech--fluentials say online news sites (49%) and traditional newspapers/magazines (48%) are the most credible sources of information about companies.
Learn more
When it comes to getting the kind of service they want, consumers aren't looking to squeeze companies for every available add-in; they just want the customer service they deserve. According to Rochester Institute of Technology School of Business Professor Patricia Sorce, Ph.D., consumers are more than willing to forego "extras" in exchange for good ol' customer service.
Research findings:
* Of those surveyed, 54% strongly agreed and 33% somewhat agreed with the statement: If I don't get a live person when I phone a customer service line, I'm disappointed.
* 34% strongly agreed and 43% somewhat agreed: I'd rather have a smile from a sales clerk than a frequent buyer membership card.
* 34% strongly agreed and 40% somewhat agreed: I like the way some companies follow up with a phone call after a service is performed.
* 28% strongly agreed and 48% somewhat agreed: I don't want special treatment from a business I patronize; rather, I just want good service
Learn more
There is a tremendous amount of interest in all things word of mouth these days. But many people who are new to this topic and interested in learning more are not aware that research on word-of-mouth marketing and related concepts -- like loyalty, advocacy, consumer behavior, social networks, etc. -- have been studied for decades and decades in the academic world and by some companies.
In light of this I have conducted my own review of the literature on the topic of word-of-mouth marketing communication and, along with others who have done the same -- notably Greg Nyilasy and Martin Williams -- we have combined our bibliographies and are making them available at my download page as a common resource.
We make no claims that this bibliography is complete in any way. Further, what exactly counts as "word of mouth" is somewhat ambiguous and so there are a lot of articles in the list that are tangentially related. We have also included, albeit unsystematically, industry white papers and news articles on the topic.
The current list is both in PDF format and as an Endnote bibliography file (as it stands now, the list is at 32 pages). The PDF format is not as useful as the Endnote bibliography, but most everyone has access to PDF. You can request a copy of the Endnote file (other academics and researchers would be most interested in this, I would assume) but we would just ask that you agree to make a meaningful contribution to the bibliography project (for example, contribute new resources to it, spot-check it, add in abstracts or summaries of the articles, etc.).
We would love for people to fill in gaps where the current list is incomplete! Simply e-mail me with "WOMBP" in the subject line. I aim to update the file every month and post a new version. When there are significant revisions or additions I will create a new blog post.
There's surely a much better way to maintain an active bibliography, such as through the use of a wiki, and we'll probably move to that at some point. There are also other WOM-related resources to check out, such as:
- The WOMNIBUS and WOM Library hosted by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association
- Google Scholar (keyword search "word of mouth")
- SPIDER (Social Psychology of Information Diffusion -- Educational Resources)
- The New PR Wiki (managed by Constantin Basturea)
- Michael Cafferky's WOM Resource page
- Kerimcan Ozcan's website
Happy researching!
Link to download page for WOM Bibliography Project
MySpace.com accounted for 2.53% of upstream visits to classifieds and shopping sites, according Hitwise tracking figures from the week ending August 26, 2006.
While marketers expect consumers to hit a search engine on their way to a shopping site, the fact that they are coming to classifieds/shopping sites via social networking sites raises interesting questions about consumer motivations (whether recommendations trigger purchase impulses, for instance, or other WOM).
Hitwise figures:
* Google's percent of total upstream visits (14.93%)
* Yahoo! Search (4.69%)
* MSN Search (2.33%)
* If MySpace.com were a search engine, it would have been listed the third highest upstream with 2.53%
Learn more
Internet users who create online content are 32% more likely to have a favorable opinion of a company if it has its own, publicly accessible blog, according to "The New Digital Divide," Universal McCann's August 2006 research report. The study of heavy internet users aged 13 to 39 found that consumers in this demographic are also vulnerable to persuasion via blogs because they are easily swayed by other people's views.
Heavy internet users rated the following as trustworthy sources of information about products and brands:
* Recommendations from friends/family/colleagues (40%)
* Emails from friends (31%)
* Price comparison websites (25%)
* Online chatrooms/message boards (10%)
* Recommendations on websites (9%)
* Blogs (7%)
Learn More
... they might not say anything at all. Positive reviews outweigh negative reviews 8 to 1 with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5, according to WOMMA member Bazaarvoice's recent benchmark analysis. "Shoppers are eager to spread the word about great products rather than badmouthing the worst," said CEO Brett Hurt.
Learn more
Despite assumptions of inferiority, the effects of weak ties approximate or exceed the effects of strong ties in all stages of a product's life cycle, according to research findings by Jacob Goldenberg, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller published in the August 2001 edition of Marketing Letters.
Other findings:
* External marketing efforts are effective at the front-end of a new product cycle, but their effectiveness quickly drops off
* After external marketing efforts lose efficacy, strong and weak ties become the main forces that push product growth
* Results indicate that information dissemination is dominated less by advertising and more by strong and weak WOM
* The effects of strong ties diminish as personal network size decreases. When personal networks are small, weak ties have a stronger impact on the spread of information than strong ties
Learn More
Marketers who spend 50% or more of their time engaged with advanced, consumer-oriented marketing processes will see a 30% greater return on marketing investment by 2007 than their peers who fail to emphasize this area, Gartner analysts Claudio Marcus and Kimberly Collins contend in a recent CMO Magazine article.
The pair also project that by 2007 "fewer than 20% of marketing organizations among Global 1000 enterprises will have evolved enough to successfully leverage customer-centric, value-added processes and capabilities."
Learn more
Thirty-five percent of internet users claim to have posted online content, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project's report "Home Broadband Adoption 2006."
Other findings:
* 8% of all internet users surveyed have created/work on an online journal/blog
* 14% have created/work on their own web page
* 13% have created/work on web pages or blogs for others (friends, work, etc.)
* 26% have shared something online that they created -- including artwork, photos, stories, or videos
* 37% of men and 32% of women surveyed were content creators
* Content creators included 43% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 36% of 30- to 49-year-olds, 29% of 50- to 64-year-olds, and 18% of those 65 and over.
Learn more
Twenty percent of online advertisers are ready to test viral marketing in vehicles such as blogs this year, though the majority of consumers (69%) don't trust the product information found on social media sites, according to a recent Jupiter Research report. Consumers, the report contends, are twice as likely to trust information they find on a company or professional review site.
Other findings:
* After viewing an online ad, consumers are three times more likely to simply research the product using a search engine than to forward the ad to a friend
* 52% of online advertisers attempting it this year are new to viral marketing
* 71% hope to increase brand awareness with viral campaigns
* 54% expect to drive online sales with online viral marketing
* 44% expect to drive offline sales with online viral marketing
Learn more (Jupiter Research)
Learn more (Internt Retailer)
Strong brand identification can help shield against negative word of mouth. The February 1998 edition of The Iowa Stater reported on marketing professors Russ Laczniak, Thomas DeCarlo, and Sridhar Ramaswami's study of 300 college students who reacted to negative information about brands of personal computers.
16% of the surveyed students who received negative information about a brand not only ignored it, but rallied to the brand's defense. This should be somewhat reassuring for the WOM-fearful, as it demonstrates that one instance of negative word of mouth is not necessarily enough to tip the scales of consumer opinion.
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Word of mouth marketing "works in more ways, with more results, than is often assumed," states a new study from WOMMA member Keller Fay Group, titled "The More, the Better: Creating Successful Word of Mouth Campaigns." The study, which tapped WOMMA member BzzAgent's volunteer consumer evangelists as respondents, found that WOM is at its best when it is integrated into a variety of daily situations, settings and relationships.
Research findings:
* While seven in 10 WOM agents talk about products with friends and family, many also talk to coworkers (58%), casual acquaintances (48%), and strangers (25%)
* While most agents spread WOM at home (82%), at work (56%) and in others' homes (55%), agents also talk about products at social gatherings (43%), in stores (25%), and in restaurants or bars (25%)
* WOM is spread most often face to face (99%), but some agents use the phone (42%), email (30%), instant messages and text messages (17%), and online chat rooms and blogs (9%) to talk about products
* Among agents who told 11+ people about a product, 59% motivated 3+ people to buy the product, 63% got 3+ people to seek more information, 71% induced 3+ people to spread their own word of mouth, and 77% got 3+ people to consider a future purchase
Learn more
Though they are small in number, opinionated and media-savvy "Brand Sirens" have wide-reaching influence over the rest of their 13- to 34-year-old demographic -- a $600 billion potential influence. According to a CNET Networks and Starcom Media Group study, Sirens have a profound network effect on marketing -- spreading influence via word of mouth, viral video, instant messaging, blogs, etc.
Other Brand Siren findings:
* 82% say they talk about brands with their friends
* 87% enjoy sharing information about brands
* 70% send emails to friends about products/services
* 77% post reviews and product feedback online
* Two in three care about the brands they use
* 43% wish they could find brands to be loyal to
* 40% would switch brands if a more enticing brand entered the market
Learn more
After price, college students are most likely to be swayed by friends' recommendations when it comes to making brand switches, according to a recent Burst Media survey of 800 18- to 24-year-olds.
Research Findings:
* 48.5% named friends' recommendations as the leading factor in brand switching (60.5% chose price)
* Females surveyed (55.6%) were more affected by friends' recommendations than males (41.5%)
Learn more
Traditionalists are missing out on huge potential by not tapping in to the buzz marketing phenomenon, contends McKinsey & Co. strategy consultant Renee Dye in a 2001 Harvard Business Review article titled "The Buzz on Buzz."
According to McKinsey & Co.'s findings:
* 13% of the U.S. economy is largely driven by buzz (toys, sporting goods, motion pictures, broadcasting, amusement and recreation services, and fashion)
* 54% is partially driven by buzz (finance and investment products, hotels and lodging, electronics, printing and publishing, tobacco, automotive, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, transportation, agriculture, and food and drink)
* 33% is largely immune to buzz (oil, gas, chemicals, railroads, insurance, utilities)
Learn more
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