Word_of_mouth_marketing

For other uses, see Word of mouth (disambiguation).

Word of mouth, is a reference to the passing of information by verbal means, especially recommendations, but also general information, in an informal, person-to-person manner. Word of mouth is typically considered a face-to-face spoken communication, although phone conversations, text messages sent via SMS and web dialogue, such as online profile pages, blog posts, message board threads, instant messages and emails are often now included in the definition of word of mouth. There is some overlap in meaning between word of mouth and the following: rumour, gossip, innuendo, and hearsay; however word of mouth is more commonly used to describe positive information being spread rather than negative, although this is not always the case.

Word of mouth marketing (WOMM)

Word-of-mouth marketing, also known as buzz marketing and viral advertising, can be highly valued by product marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOMM than more formal forms of promotion methods; the receiver of word-of-mouth referrals tends to believe that the communicator is speaking honestly and is unlikely to have an ulterior motive (i.e. they are not receiving an incentive for their referrals).Grewal, R., T.W. Cline, and A. Davies, 2003. Early-Entrant Advantage, Word-of-Mouth Communication, Brand Similarity, and the Consumer Decision-Making Process. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13(3).

In order to promote and manage word-of-mouth communications, marketers use publicity techniques as well as viral marketing methods to achieve desired behavioral response. Influencer marketing is increasingly used to seed WOMM by targeting key individuals that have authority and a high number of personal connections.

Marketers place significant value on positive word-of-mouth, which has historically been achieved by creating products or services that generate such "buzz" naturally. The relatively new practice of word of mouth marketing attempts to inject positive "buzz" into conversations directly. While marketers have always hoped to achieve positive word-of-mouth, deliberate efforts to generate beneficial consumer conversations must be transparent and honestly conducted in order to meet the requirements of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."Laws Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission In order to help marketers understand the difference between legitimate and unfair practices, a number of professional organizations have put forward recommendations for ethical conduct.Word of Mouth Marketing Association Ethics CodeAmerican Marketing Association Best Practices for Word of Mouth Communications.

Word-of-mouth effects in the life cycle of cultural goods has been mathematically modelled.César A. Hidalgo, A. Castro and Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert, \'The effect of social interactions in the primary life cycle of motion pictures,\' New Journal of Physics, April, 2006. For evidence as to the conditions under which word-of-mouth communication is effective, see Grewal et al. 2003.

With the emergence of Web 2.0, many web start-ups like facebook, youtube, myspace, and digg have used buzz marketing by merging it with the social networks that they have developed. With the increasing use of the Internet as a research and communications platform, word of mouth has become an even more powerful and useful resource for consumers and marketers. Tracking this online \'buzz\' has led to the rise of a range of services and tools known as buzz monitoring as a component of online public relations.

Unsuccessful examples

• Burger King\'s Subservient Chicken - Burger King\'s marketing program called Subservient Chicken did indeed generate a lot of word of mouth, but the word of mouth was about the marketing campaign instead of the product that was being marketed. Also, those marketing efforts which rely on being edgy or on some kind of stunt often fade quickly when the novelty or edge wears off. Finally, this type of marketing is not reproducible or sustainable since it won\'t be edgy the second time around.
• McDonald\'s LincolnFry - a fake blog was discovered, and it generated lots of negative word of mouth and little participation.
• American Express\' billboard - a fake blog poster who told readers to check out a great Amex billboard was found to be an Ogilvy employee; this violation of trust resulted in massive negative word of mouth which spread around the world.

See also

• Communication
• Customer engagement
• Language
• Referral bonus
• Advertising
• Propaganda
• New Media Marketing
• Evangelism marketing
• Stealth marketing
• Astroturfing
• Publicity
• Business Marketing
• Online marketing
• Reputation management
• New Media Marketing
• Social Media Marketing

References

• Renée Dye, \'The Buzz on Buzz,\' Harvard Business Review, November-December, 2000.
• Rajdeep Grewal, Thomas W. Cline, and Antony Davies, \'Early-Entrant Advantage, Word-of-Mouth Communication, Brand Similarity, and the Consumer Decision-Making Process,\' Journal of Consumer Psychology, October, 2003.
• Frederick F. Reichheld, \'The One Number You Need to Grow,\' Harvard Business Review, December, 2003.
• Yubo Chen and Jinhong Xie, \'Online Consumer Review: A New Element of Marketing Communications Mix,\' http://ssrn.com/abstract=618782, July, 2004.
• Florian v Wangenheim and Tomás Bayón, \'The effect of word of mouth on services switching: Measurement and moderating variables,\' European Journal of Marketing, September, 2004.
• Paul Marsden, Alain Samson, and Neville Upton, \'Advocacy Drives Growth,\' Brand Strategy, December, 2005.
• BoldMouth and Osterman Research, \'Perceptions, Practices and Ethics in Word of Mouth Marketing,\' Website, May, 2006.