November 2006
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A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Individual Differences, Social Networks, and Word of Mouth Influence
In their MWOMv2 paper, Informative Strategic Consultant Harald Eltvedt and University of California, Riverside Distinguished Professor of Psychology Dr. Howard Friedman highlight the important role of individual advocates and their potential impact in word of mouth episodes. The authors lay out unique communication-based characteristics (such as, emotionally expressive style, social connectedness, credibility and expertise, and recommendation- and action-oriented style) which can be used to identify advocates, as well as the specific methods to assess each person's level of advocacy based on these characteristics.
Eltvedt and Friedman then relate how they tested their theoretical model with a panel of over 10,000 consumers across multiple industries and brands. The results confirm their theoretical model and its utility for application to word of mouth marketing. More specifically, results show that the word of mouth advocacy of influential individuals drives company growth.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Does Participation in an Agent-Based Word of Mouth Marketing Program Cause or Predict Future Elevated Product Usage? A Case Study from Higher One's B-4 Program
Sean Glass, Nicolas Carlona, and Chris LaConte from Higher One researched the effects of consumer participation in a word of mouth marketing program where participants were invited to:
* Receive a product before others in their social networks
* Spread the word
* Report back to the marketing company about the product-related word of mouth episodes
The researchers set out to assess the ROI of this kind of word of mouth program by investigating whether being introduced to a product or service through participation in the "B-4" campaign led to higher usage of the product, which in this case, was a financial checking account and debit card for university students. Results indicated a positive correlation between participation in the B-4 word of mouth marketing program and product usage, both when the customer was introduced to the product through the WOM program as well as when the customer participated in the program as an existing customer.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
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A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
WOMMA WOMBAT Podcast: Driving Word of Mouth
Dave Evans, VP of Social Media for Digital Voodoo and founder of HearThis.com, discusses the challenges and opportunities in developing a podcast series for WOMMA’s Word of Mouth Basic Training (WOMBAT) Conference. Evans' paper traces the strategic management of the series from initial planning and execution to measuring and evaluating the results.
Traffic to the site increased from the time of the first podcast release up to the conference, providing prospective attendees a low-risk way to assess the content of the conference and helping assure them of its value in time and money spent. Interestingly, the highest traffic for the series came after the conference. Evans contends that the success of the podcast series was due to basic principles of word of mouth marketing in action.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
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A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Creating and Measuring the WOM-Worthiness Of New Products: A Case Study
Decision Analyst's Karen Kraft, Felicia Rogers, and Gwen Ishmael tackle the issue of how to come up with the kind of product that consumers will want to talk about. Rather than relying exclusively on traditional innovation and research techniques -- which were originally designed for the ends of traditional advertising media -- the authors argue that companies today need to use word of mouth principals to inform their new product launches from the very first step.
In this case study, the authors illustrate a step-by-step process that privileges word of mouth principles at each phase: consumer-based idea formation, concept screening based on WOM-worthiness, concept evaluation (enhanced by asking about consumers’ likelihood to recommend, as well as evaluating what they would say about the product), consumer-based name-generation and testing, final marketing message testing, and test marketing and tracking.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
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If you have a stake in measuring word of mouth, WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium, on Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C. is the event you've been waiting for.
Check out these data-packed presentations:
* The Evangelist Effect: Fact Based Advocacy Measurement and Management -- Steve Hershberger, ComBlu
* What's in Your Cereal Bowl? Measuring the Landscape of WOM Participants in Consumer-Generated Media -- Jim Nail, Cymfony
* Creating and Measuring the WOM-Worthiness of New Products: A Case Study -- Karen Kraft & Felicia Rogers, Decision Analyst
* Combining Several Metrics from the WOMMA Terminology Framework to Manage Consumer Expectations -- William Mosher, Echopinion!
See these presentations and tons more; sign up to attend WOMMA's Word of Mouth Research Symposium today:
http://www.womma.org/research2
When it comes to influencing women's purchases, family and friends have the most impact, finds a recent survey conducted by WOMMA member company Ketchum. Of the women surveyed, 91% indicate that family and friends give either "very" or "somewhat" credible information, and women follow these influencers' lead when it comes to making decisions about buying consumer-packaged goods, consumer electronics, and food.
Other findings:
* 7 in 10 women do research prior to making big purchases.
* 25% of women claim they are the first to try new products and services.
Learn more
Of 2,000 CompUSA shoppers surveyed in August 2006, 81% indicate that customer ratings and reviews are an important component of their product research and planning process. The survey, conducted by WOMMA member company Bazaarvoice along with iPerceptions, shows that both positive and negative reviews contribute to the purchase decision. Some shoppers even indicate that they consult ratings and reviews before making any online purchase.
Other findings:
* 86% of repeat customers place importance on customer ratings and reviews, versus 82% of one-time buyers, suggesting that the feature helps foster customer loyalty.
* Shoppers that were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to make a purchase considered ratings and reviews more important (85%) than shoppers unlikely to purchase (70%).
* The importance of ratings and reviews was highest (88%) for shoppers under 18 and lowest (70%) for shoppers 45 and older.
Learn more (Bazaarvoice)
http://www.iperceptions.com/4105/04_02_press_releases2.asp
In their December 2000 article, "Determinants of Relationship Quality and Loyalty in Personalized Services," Prem Shamdasani and Audrey Balakrishnan of the Department of Marketing at the National University of Singapore explore the effects of contact personnel, physical environment, and customer environment on customers' relationships with service firms. The authors show particular interest in factors that contribute to feelings of simultaneous satisfaction and trust, which they believe leads to customer loyalty and, in turn, advocacy.
Research findings:
* Physical environment affects both trust and satisfaction in personalized service encounters.
* Friendliness and knowledge of personnel strongly influence relationship quality.
* Expertise, similarity, and disclosure influence only trust.
* Trust and satisfaction influence loyalty.
* Trust is a stronger predictor of loyalty for high-end service providers, while satisfaction is a stronger predictor of loyalty for low-end service providers.
Learn more
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
What's in Your Cereal Bowl? Measuring the Landscape of WOM Participants in Consumer-Generated Media
Cymfony's Jim Nail, Pat Fennessey, Ronnie McNeill, and Laura Malone evaluate the viability of analyzing online consumer communication as a source of consumer insight to help shape marketing strategy. Since companies often wonder if there is enough volume of online discussion about their product to warrant brand monitoring and online word of mouth initiatives, Cymfony selected a common, daily product that does not require significant research or evaluation -- breakfast cereal -- to illustrate the possibilities.
The authors detail a five-step process of determining the volume of topical word of mouth, correlating levels of online discussion with general market indicators (each brand’s rank in market share), classifying the word of mouth participants, creating brand/participant profiles to understand the composition of the consumer base, and extracting insights from these profiles. Through this process, the authors demonstrate that there is indeed actionable, marketplace-relevant information that can be gleaned from the analysis of online word of mouth episodes.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Measuring the ROI Impact of 'Marketplace Influencers'
In his research paper, Andrew Lipsman relates how comScore conducted a study with a cross-section of its U.S. panel in order to better understand the ROI impact of participants who report at least six instances of word of mouth activity during a 90-day period (consumers known as "Marketplace Influencers").
According to comScore's research, Marketplace Influencers provide three to five times the word of mouth impact compared to general internet panelists, and Marketplace Influencers are especially assertive in the fashion and finance product categories. Andrew points out that the influencers' ROI is a function not just of their increased spending patterns, but also of their roles as strategic partners in word of mouth marketing initiatives -- due to their higher levels of word of mouth activity and influence on other consumers' spending.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
The Evangelist Effect: Fact Based Advocacy Measurement and Management
ComBlu's Steve Hershberger differentiates between customer loyalty and brand advocacy -- two things that he contends are not synonymous. According to Steve, loyalty is the level of insulation built into the relationship between the customer and the brand. Advocacy -- an outgrowth of this loyalty -- represents the level of engagement in consumers that results in them actively learning about, trying, and buying a product.
Steve discusses six pitfalls and misconceptions in identifying and measuring loyal advocacy, why these myths are perpetuated, and what companies can do to avoid them. By filtering facts from misconceptions and, thereby, acting from a more informed point of view, companies are better able to derive positive ROI from their most loyal and passionate customer base.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today.
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Mom Power Thrives in Digital Domain
Idil Cakim, Director of Knowledge Development at Burson-Marsteller, investigates the role of women and moms in influencing the purchase decisions of friends and family.
Through online survey-based research, a new segment of consumers heavily active in the online world of WOM were identified: mom-fluentials. The research shows that, when compared to typical online mothers, mom-fluentials are more open to trying new products and services, sustain longer relationships with the brands they trust, provide more word of mouth recommendations, and are more likely to have their peers follow their advice. Idil describes several steps brands can take to connect with this influential segment, as well as what metrics to use when evaluating the success of mom-fluential marketing campaigns.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
WOMMA is proud to recognize the award-winning papers from our forthcoming book, "Measuring Word of Mouth Vol. 2." Winning papers were chosen from the more than 20 papers submitted for inclusion in WOMMA's second word of mouth marketing research anthology, and are being acknowledged for their dramatic contributions to the industry's growing wealth of data.
Winning Papers:
* Best Demonstration of ROI -- Measuring the Value of a Managed WOM Program in Test & Control Markets
Valerie Alderson, Senior Campaign Analyst, BzzAgent
* Best Discussion of Lessons Learned -- Single-Source WOM Measurement: Bringing Together Senders & Receivers; Inputs & Outputs
Ed Keller, CEO, and Brad Fay, COO, The Keller Fay Group
* Best Use of WOMMA Terminology Framework -- Combining Several Metrics from the WOMMA Terminology Framework to Manage Consumer Expectations: A Report on How One ABC American Inventor Incorporates WOM for a Holistic Approach
William Mosher, Founder/Director, Echopinion!
All attendees to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium will receive a free copy of the 200+ page, research-saturated book. It's a great way to make sure conference learnings find their way back to the office.
Register for the Research Symposium today.
When it comes to single, primary sources of vacation planning information, word of mouth is second only to the internet, according to a recent telephone survey conducted for the U.S. Tour Operators Association.
* 30% of respondents reported word of mouth as their primary source of vacation planning information.
* Word of mouth is used more by women (33%) than by men (24%).
* For 35% of respondents, the internet was the primary source.
* 39% of men named the internet as their source of choice, versus 33% of women.
* 10% of respondents named travel agents as their primary source for vacation information.
Learn more
Not only are people who visit newspaper websites daily more likely to make online purchases, but they are also more likely to put internet advertising and shopping information to good use, according to a study conducted by MORI Research for the Newspaper Association of America. Results show that 82% of online newspaper users claim to also purchase products online, while only 55% of non-users make the same claim.
Other findings:
* 76% of newspaper website users browse products for sale, versus 48% of non-users.
* 43% of users download coupons, versus 14% of non-users.
* 78% check store hours and location, versus 36% of non-users.
Learn more
Marketers know that satisfied customers translate into repeat purchases, positive word of mouth, and favorable predispositions, but customer satisfaction is still a tricky metric to chart. In their 1995 Behavioral Science article, Terence Oliva, Richard Oliver, and William Bearden contend that a customer satisfaction model that "relaxes the linearity assumption" and "allows for lagged and threshold effects of performance increments" on responses is the superior model for analyzing cause and effect. The authors used the cusp catastrophe model -- rarely used in marketing previously -- to more fully illustrate the customer satisfaction factors and effects.
According to the authors, the catastrophe model is superior to the linear model in identifying possible causality and in predicting future outcomes, in part because it is able to consider variables that may shift even while consumers' estimate of performance stays constant, something not plotted on linear models.
Learn more
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Branded Engagement: Using Metrics to Support Marketing and Branding Decisions
Ted Morris, Senior VP of Global Alliances for Brandimensions, contends that the information present in online consumer conversations represents a wealth of knowledge -- something capable of guiding strategic decision-making, provided it's properly measured and understood.
Ted presents two case studies to demonstrate his point. The first illustrates how a company can use the internet to better understand how consumers purchase and communicate about a product category (in this case, household cleaning products) to identify where the relevant discussions take place online and to determine how best to facilitate a dialogue between the company and this target audience. The second case study, from the automotive industry, documents how an Original Equipment Manufacturer was able to identify key influencers and build brand advocacy around the launch of a new product. By identifying key sites where positive and negative buzz existed about its product, the company was able to develop specific communication strategies for each audience to accentuate the positive WOM and proactively address the negative WOM.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Media Consumption and Consumer Purchasing: A Word Of Mouth Media Plan
Don Schultz (Northwestern University & Agora Inc.), Joe Pilotta (BIGresearch & Ohio State University), and Martin Block (Northwestern University & Block Research) offer up a new consumer-centric model of media planning and ROI based on audience consumption. The researchers established consumer clusters based on research regarding how long respondents use each of 31 media forms, the influence of each media form on eight distinct merchandise categories, and the extent to which respondents consume multiple media forms simultaneously. Don, Joe, and Martin explain the advice-seeking and advice-giving behavior for each consumer cluster, as well as how word of mouth affects their purchase decisions.
Want to know more? Come see this paper presented at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
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A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
From WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Vol. 2:
Ratings, Reviews, & ROI: How Leading Retailers Use Word of Mouth in Marketing and Merchandising
Bazaarvoice's co-founder and VP of Business Development Brant Barton outlines how three retailers are leveraging customer ratings and reviews to generate ROI. In each case study, Brant illustrates how the companies facilitated consumer-generated content on their sites and measured the success of these initiatives by assessing conversion rates and the dollar amount spent per order.
The findings suggest that word of mouth receivers convert at higher than average rates and in two of three cases spend significantly more per online order or "unique visitor" than non-receivers. A key take-away point from the paper: Online ratings are especially powerful because they provide credible, relevant, and actionable information to other consumers in the moment when a purchase decision is being made.
Want to know more? Come see Brant present his paper at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register today
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
An award winning paper from WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Single-Source WOM Measurement: Bringing Together Senders & Receivers; Inputs & Outputs
Synopsis: In their paper, Ed Keller and Brad Fay of the Keller Fay Group use a diary-based tracking methodology to determine how much WOM occurs, what factors drive WOM, and what the market outcomes are.
The results show that the average consumer participates in brand-related interactions 78 times each week. The majority of these interactions occur face-to-face and on the phone, and over half of them occur in one's own home -- usually among friends, family members, and spouses/partners. The study also found that brand-related interactions are more often positive than negative.
Additional results concern levels of participant credibility, the number of WOM episodes that refer to other media forms, and the frequency with which WOM episodes lead to purchase and relay outcomes.
Want to learn more? Come see Ed and Brad present their award-winning paper at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
An award winning paper from WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Combining Several Metrics from the WOMMA Terminology Framework to Manage Consumer Expectations: A Report on How One ABC American Inventor Incorporates WOM for a Holistic Approach
Synopsis: Echopinion! Founder and Director William Mosher explores the consumer insight that can be achieved through a word of mouth marketing campaign. In his presentation, Bill uses a case study to demonstrate that word of mouth measurement needs to be understood holistically (with both quantitative and qualitative data) to properly inform the direction of a marketing strategy.
The quantitative results from a word of mouth marketing campaign showed that the reported word of mouth episodes were largely positive in polarity but that people were not likely to recommend the product to others. In exploring the qualitative data, analysts were able to explain this discrepancy. Consumers who were least likely to recommend the product had formed unrealistic expectations of what the product could do and were disappointed. Conversely, consumers who had positive word of mouth episodes and adopted the product were those who experienced the product as meeting their own needs -- often in ways that were not originally identified by the product's creators.
Want to learn more? Come see Bill present his award-winning paper at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
We all know that blogs are growing exponentially. But who exactly is doing the blogging? Recent research conducted by Environics Research investigated this very question.
This online research was conducted between October 5 to 9, 2006, with a sample of 1,391 adult residents of Canada (aged 18 or older). Highlights of the results include the following:
Lurkers, bloggers and posters are (often) different people:
- Overall, 32% say they have read blogs at least once in the past 3 months. A further 7 percent say they have written their own blogs during this period, while 9% say they have posted messages on other people's blogs.
- Those who post messages are not necessarily the same people who write blogs. In fact, just 60% of those who write blogs post messages on other people's blogs during this period, and just 47% of those who post messages on blogs also write their own.
Not surprisingly, Bloggers are more likely to be Younger, but the age-distinction is less significant that we might think:
- Young Canadians are the heaviest bloggers. Among those aged 24 years or less, 39% have read blogs, 15% have written blogs and 15% have posted comments on other blogs in the past three months. They also read a greater number of blogs, reading an average of 33 (an average of one every three days) compared to an average of 21 blogs read among all Canadians who read blogs.
- While fewer older Canadians on-line read or write blogs, the gap is not as significant as we might think. 26% of those aged 65+ read blogs, 3% have written blogs and 6% have posted messages on others' sites.
More men are bloggers, but among those who blog, women are more vocal:
- 37% of men and 28% of women say they read blogs at least once in the past month; 9% and 6% respectively wrote blogs; and 11% and 8% posted messages on other blogs.
- While fewer women are blogging, those who do blog are more prolific than their male counterparts: women who write blogs wrote an average of 20 blog entries in the past 3 months, compared to just 7 for the men who blog; and women who post messages posted an average of 17 comments in the past 3 months, compared to just 12 among males who posted any.
Other Demographics also affect blogging propensities:
- those with high school education or less are only slightly less likely than those with post-secondary education or more to read, write or post messages on blogs.
- Blogs are of greater interest among households with lower incomes than those with middle and higher incomes, but even here the distribution is reasonably flat. (36% of those with household incomes of less than $30,000 read blogs compared to 27% of those with incomes of $30-$60k, and 32% of those with incomes above $60,000).
- Respondents in households with children under the age of 18 are just as likely as those without children. (Perhaps the more prolific twenty-somethings are off-setting the more reticent empty nesters?)
For more details regarding this research, please click here.
WOMMA's Wommie Awards were created to recognize amazing word of mouth campaigns and the fabulous people who create them. Between now and Nov. 17, all submissions to WOMMA's Case Studies Library will be eligible for the Wommie Awards.
Wommie Awardees will have the opportunity to present their winning case studies to an audience of the industry's biggest experts at WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit in Washington D.C., Dec. 12-13.
What you get:
* Industry recognition
* A captive audience
* An opportunity to show off your best work
* An award with a cool name
What you have to do to get it:
* Submit a case study at www.womma.org/casestudy
It's that easy. WOMMA members who submit a 300-word case study to our case study library by Nov. 17 areS automatically eligible for the first annual Wommie Awards.
Have you done something unique, exciting, fresh, new, original, noteworthy, innovative, novel, creative, or imaginative using word of mouth marketing? We want to hear about it!
Submit your Case Study
Register to attend WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit
Sites that offer tools to improve the look and feel of social networking profiles (with song lyrics, pictures, skins, images, quotes, etc.) are top hits among those aged 12 to 17, according to a recent study from Nielsen//NetRatings. In September 2003, 12- to 17-year-olds were flocking to sites that offered instant messaging buddy icons and have since "graduated" to profile design tools. This migration in preferences indicates a growing sophistication in teens' online socialization and nods at the penetration of social networking sites.
Other findings:
* Nine out of the top 10 teen sites either offer content or tools for social networking site profiles or are social networking sites themselves.
* Teens account for 68.4% of the unique audience at No. 1 teen site Plyrics.com, 67.6% at No. 2 Snapvine, and 60.6% at No.3 WhateverLife.com.
Learn more
More bloggers trust posts from other bloggers (63%) than from company sites (26%), corporate blogs (6%), or press releases (5%), according to a study of the blogosphere by WOMMA member Edelman and Technorati. Part of that trust might stem from bloggers' willingness to fess up and make corrections when they unwittingly post incorrect information. Only 2% of bloggers surveyed indicate that they would avoid correcting an erroneous post.
Other findings:
* 70% of bloggers are willing to review products on their blog
* 22% post on companies, products, or employees about once a week, 16% post more than once a week, 9% post daily/almost daily, and 4% have blogs devoted to a company or product
* 48% have never been contacted by companies or their PR representatives
* 80% of respondents indicate that messages from companies are either "very trusted" or "somewhat trusted"
Learn more
Customer-oriented employees are critical to the development of long-term relationships with customers in retail environments, according to the 1996 Journal of Retailing article "Customer-Sales Associate Retail Relationships." Findings include the discovery that customers often put loyalty to the sales associate before loyalty to a retail brand and the revelation that customers can be segmented based on their desire for either a functional or social relationship, or a combination of the two. The research led to the development of a relationship formation/enhancement model based on:
* Commitment and orientation to customer service by top management and employees, as well as a customer desire for a relationship
* Augmented personal service and team playing by employees
* Repeat customer-employee interactions based on trust, friendship, and functionality
* Development of customer loyalty to the sales associate and firm, and employee reinforcement and loyalty to the company and customer
Learn more
A-Blog-a-Day Countdown to WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
An award-winning paper from WOMMA's soon-to-be-released book, Measuring Word of Mouth Volume 2:
Measuring the Value of a Managed WOM Program in Test & Control Markets
Synopsis: Valerie Alderson, a senior campaign analyst at BzzAgent, describes how to measure the success of agent-based word of mouth marketing programs. BzzAgent used a test/control design in four pairs of markets across the U.S. to determine the effectiveness of a WOM campaign for an espresso beverage. The goals of the campaign were to raise awareness of the product, to drive sales, and to increase the credibility of other marketing messages. Results indicated a correlation between the key outcome metrics of sales data and the number of receivers reached through WOM relays.
Want to know more? See Valarie present her award-winning paper at WOMMA's Research Symposium in Washington D.C., Dec. 11, 2006.
Register Today
As marketers, we have a plethora of frameworks to help us understand consumers at various "stages" of consumer-dom -- the purchase decision process, stages of adoption, various communication processes, etc. Yet, we still lack a framework to help us understand the stages that online groups or communities progress through over time -- until now.
At a conference I attended a few weeks ago in Orlando (Association of Consumer Research Conference), Professor Frederic Brunel presented research that he and Research Fellow Anat Toder Alon conducted that should help us better understand the evolution of online communities.
Specifically, Brunel and Toder-Alon conducted an online ethnography (or Netnography) of various babycenter.com groups. In Phase I, they analyzed five bulletin boards at two 2 points in time, and in Phase II they analyzed one bulletin board in detail over a period of nine months. In their analysis of 12,162 threads they identified two fundamental findings:
- They isolated 7 stages or milestones in online community development and relationship building
- They identified that each milestone has a different WOM genre (or 'type'), and that 4 main communicative "genres" emerge across the different milestones
First, the seven stages of online community development:
1. Joining
2. Coordination
3. Prompting Intimacy
4. Communal Sense
5. Alienation & Splintering
6. Communal Again
7. Culmination
The definitions of each of these seven stages are relatively self-explanatory. They should prove valuable for marketing managers in identifying the stage of a particular online community -- be it one that they are managing or simply observing to develop consumer insights.
Second, the communication genres or types. Brunel and Toder-Alon defined each of the seven stages list above in terms of two characteristics:
1. Identity Orientation:
- focused on themselves as an individual -- disconnected ("I") or dyadic (two-way), personal level is salient, (e.g. confessions, my own experience)
- focused on the group -- connected ("We"), multi-directional (group conversation), collective level is salient, (e.g. joint activities such as organizing a secret Santa, collaborative problem solving)
2. Pattern of Interaction:
- task-oriented -- instrumental or informational, e.g. organizing an email distribution list, providing basic product information (e.g., price, product specs)
- socio-emotional in nature -- experiential, conflicts, debates, emotional content, narrative content, person-oriented information
Basically, each of the seven stages of online community development is classified as being focused on either individuals or the group, and as either task-oriented or socio-emotional in nature (think of this as a two-by-two matrix). This classification creates a corresponding WOM Communication genre or type for each stage. Here is how the seven stages played out:
STAGE ------------------------------WOM Communication Genre
1. JOINING --------------------- Disconnected Instrumental
2. COORDINATION ----------- Connected Instrumental
3. PROMPTING INTIMACY --- Disconnected Experiential
4. COMMUNAL SENSE --------- Multidirectional Communal
5. ALIENATION AND SPLINTERING --- Disconnected Experiential
6. COMMUNAL AGAIN ------- Multidirectional Communal
7. CULMINATION ------------- Disconnected Experiential
Here is a link to their paper. If you are interested in better understanding consumers' online interactions (and who isn't?) I urge you to consider the framework presented here by Brunel and Toder-Anon. Of course, there are a few caveats you should keep in mind (Babycenter.com is a special kind of community, where (mostly) women join, all for the same purpose, and all focused on a particular "date" (i.e. their due date) ...). However, this framework should provide marketing managers with an effective foundation from which to draw insights regarding their target market, including, possibly, forecasting what online community members may talk about next.
If you have a stake in measuring word of mouth, WOMMA's Word of Mouth Research Symposium, on Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C., is the event you've been waiting for!
Check out these data-packed presentations:
* Rating, Reviews & ROI: How Leading Retailers Use Word of Mouth in Marketing and Merchandising -- Brant Barton, BazaarVoice
* Media Consumption and Consumer Purchasing: A Word of Mouth Media Plan -- Joe Pillota, BIGResearch
* Branded Engagement: Using Metrics to Support Marketing and Branding Decisions -- Ted Morris, Brandimensions
* Mom Power Thrives in Digital Domain -- Idil Cakim, Burson-Marsteller
* Measuring the Value of a Managed WOM Program in Test & Control Markets -- Matt McGlinn, BzzAgent
See these presentations, plus 15 more; sign up to attend WOMMA's Word of Mouth Research Symposium today!
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When it comes to major events such as natural disasters and pandemics, consumers trust traditional sources -- professional journalists in newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio -- over electronic publications, blogs, podcasts, etc., according to a nationwide survey by LexisNexis U.S.
Other findings:
* Over half of respondents said they would turn to network TV for immediate news information during major events.
* Radio (42%) ranked as the second most popular source, followed by local daily newspapers (37%), and cable news or business networks (33%).
* A quarter of respondents indicated they would depend on the websites of print and broadcast media, while only 6% claimed they would rely on internet user groups, blogs, and chatrooms.
* Consumers are four to six times more likely to trust traditional media over emerging news sources when it comes to news that interests them.
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People born between 1982 and 2000 might not have the biggest bank accounts, but they're able to extend their clout to those that do. According to a recent Resource Interactive study, 81% of families consult their teenagers before making fashion purchases, and more than 52% before buying a car. This generation has unprecedented discretionary spending power and is highly susceptible to peer word of mouth, the study says; their social networks are fundamental to their purchase processes, and they rarely make purchases without peer approval.
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Consumer response to a minor dissatisfaction is generally minimal and reaction to serious dissatisfaction often involves the spreading of negative word of mouth, regardless of other factors in the situation. It is in between these two extremes that companies have the most opportunity to do damage control with dissatisfied customers, according to Marsha L. Richins' article in the Winter 1983 edition of the Journal of Marketing. One of the best ways to mitigate customer reaction is to provide customers with an accessible, easy-to-navigate means for voicing complaints.
"If complaints are encouraged, the retailer has the chance to remedy legitimate complaints and win back a customer who may also make positive reports to others, enhancing good will," Richins writes. "Even if the complaint is not settled to the customer's satisfaction, he/she is more likely to repurchase than if no complaint is made."
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