See also
- Social media marketing
- Two-step flow of communication
- Evangelism marketing
- Guerrilla marketing
- User-generated content
- Online brand defense - A type of consumer behavior that has been considered creating significant impact on word-of-mouth
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Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM, WOM marketing, also called word-of-mouth advertising) is the communication between consumers about a product, service, or company in which the sources are considered independent of direct commercial influence that has been actively influenced or encouraged as a marketing effort (e.g. 'seeding' a message in a network rewarding regular consumers to engage in WOM, employing WOM 'agents'). While it is difficult to truly control word of mouth communication, there are three generic avenues [1] to 'manage' word of mouth communication for the purpose of word-of-mouth marketing, including:
The success of word-of-mouth marketing depends heavily on the nature of the loyalty rewards used. When companies utilize poor incentives to motivate consumers or agents to spread positive word of mouth about products or brands, the campaigns backfire. [2]
In the early 1970s, psychologist George Silverman pioneered word-of-mouth marketing by creating "teleconferenced peer influence groups" aimed at engaging physicians in discussions concerning new pharmaceutical products. Through his conduction of these focus groups, Silverman noted that physicians with positive experiences regarding a particular drug could influence skeptical peers, including a dissatisfied group of ex-prescribers who had negative experiences with the drug. [3]
The emergence of Web 2.0 brought about noteworthy changes in WOMM, with many web startups such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and Digg incorporating buzz marketing into their platforms to leverage their social networks.[ citation needed ][ clarification needed ] This integration has amplified the power of word-of-mouth marketing, especially with the Internet serving as a primary research and communication platform. The Internet's role has simplified communication processes by eliminating barriers like distance and language, encouraging consumers to share their opinions readily and form communities, and sequentially strengthening word-of-mouth marketing.
In 2003, Fred Reichheld introduced the Net Promoter Score as a word-of-mouth marketing strategy, assessing the number of promoters recommending a brand to others. This tactic emphasizes the importance of positive customer experiences in driving organic word-of-mouth marketing. [4]
In October 2005, the advertising watchdog group Commercial Alert petitioned the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to issue guidelines for paid word-of-mouth marketers, requiring them to disclose their relationship and compensation from the company whose product they promote. [5] The FTC responded by committing to investigate cases where such relationships are undisclosed and could impact endorsements, pledging to take enforcement actions as necessary, including cease-and-desist orders, fines, or civil penalties. [6] The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, a prominent US trade group representing numerous companies, has since adopted an ethics code prohibiting manufacturers from offering cash to consumers in exchange for recommendations or endorsements. [7]
In 2008, PQ Media stated that companies spent $1.54 billion on word-of-mouth marketing, indicating a significant growth trend compared to traditional advertising channels. Within this, word-of-mouth marketing expenditure increased by 14.2% in 2008, with 30% allotted to food and drink brands. [8]
In December 2014, the Journal of Advertising Research found that 75% of all consumer conversations about brands happen face-to-face with merely 15% happening over the phone and just 10% taking place online.[ citation needed ]
According to the Journal of Consumer Psychology [9] and Jonah Berger's book Contagious: Why Things Catch On, [10] six key factors drive what people talk about and share. [11] They are organized in an acronym called STEPPS, which stands for:
Additionally, as mentioned by Berger, interest plays an essential role in driving word-of-mouth communication. [12] Andy Sernovitz supports this theory, stating that, “nobody talks about boring companies, boring products, or boring ads,”. [13]
Study into developing the concept of word-of-mouth marketing led to the emergence of various models underlying the word-of-mouth strategy. These models include the organic inter-consumer influence model, the linear marketer influence model, and the network coproduction model.
The initial and most straightforward form of word-of-mouth marketing aligns with the Organic Inter-consumer Influence Model. [14] In this model, organizations have no direct control over what consumers say about their products - it involves one consumer sharing their product reviews or customer service experiences with another. The primary motivation behind this model is for consumers to inform and caution potential buyers of a product out of genuine concern, not for personal gain. [14] Termed "organic," this model occurs naturally when consumers choose to share their experiences with a specific brand or product.
As research progressed, marketers recognized the importance of "influential consumers", [14] leading to the adoption of the linear marketer influence model. This model introduced the idea of influential customers initiating conversations with potential buyers regarding how a product benefits the consumer. It enables organizations to ensure that credible sources advocate for their brand and accurately present the value proposition to the target consumer. [14] This can be achieved through targeted advertisements and promotions via reputable sources that review the product. [14] Marketers found this model effective in mitigating the spread of negative opinions and attitudes about their products.
The Network Coproduction Model introduced "one-to-one seeding and communication programs", [14] encouraging customer conversations about specific products through released product information. [15] This word-of-mouth model primarily focuses on online activities, utilizing platforms like blogs and online communities to convey product messages. The network coproduction model allows marketers to manage and control online word-of-mouth activities. [14] Marketers use the network coproduction model to employ word-of-mouth marketing in several ways:
Marketing buzz, also known simply as "buzz", refers to the phenomenon in word-of-mouth marketing where consumers and users of a product or service contribute to amplifying the original marketing message. [17] It can be described as a form of positive hype, [18] excitement, or anticipation surrounding a product or service among consumers. Achieving positive "buzz" is often a key goal of viral marketing, public relations efforts, and advertising campaigns on Web 2.0 platforms. This term encompasses both the strategic execution of marketing techniques and the resulting positive sentiment and goodwill generated.
Products that generated strong marketing buzz upon their introduction include Harry Potter, the Volkswagen New Beetle, Pokémon, Beanie Babies, and The Blair Witch Project . These products successfully leveraged various marketing strategies to create widespread excitement and positive associations among consumers, highlighting the power and impact of generating effective marketing buzz.[ citation needed ]
Viral marketing and viral advertising are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to boost brand awareness or achieve marketing goals like increased product sales through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of a virus. These methods can be amplified by word-of-mouth or enhanced through Internet network effects. [19] Viral campaigns can manifest as various content formats such as video clips, interactive games, ebooks, brandable software, images, or text messages. Successful viral marketing aims to target individuals with high social networking potential (SNP) and create compelling viral messages that resonate within this group. However, it's worth noting that the term "viral marketing" also carries negative connotations, referring to deceptive practices like stealth marketing and astroturfing to simulate organic word-of-mouth enthusiasm. [20]
Consumers promote brands through word-of-mouth based on social, functional, and emotional factors. [21] The Journal of Marketing Research identified thirteen brand characteristics that stimulate WOM: [22]
While social and functional play a significant role in online WOM promotion, offline WOM is primarily driven by emotional factors.
Word-of-mouth marketing plays a crucial role in amplifying the impact of an advertising campaign by effectively navigating consumers' defenses and encouraging discussions about a specific product. Marketers value WOMM for its ability to analyze personal networks, which are driven by genuine experiences rather than organizational motives.[ citation needed ]
One notable advantage of word-of-mouth marketing is its reliance on personal recommendations, fostering trust and authenticity in consumers' perceptions. Positive feedback from trusted sources boost consumers' willingness to try a product or service, enhancing overall campaign effectiveness.[ citation needed ]
Word-of-mouth marketing is not favored by everyone, particularly in today's digital landscape. Online platforms allow not only positive but also negative reviews to spread rapidly, [24] potentially undermining brand perception and consumer attitudes. Negative word-of-mouth can have a more significant impact on purchase intentions compared to positive feedback, highlighting the delicate balance in managing brand reputation. [25]
Another issue arises when consumers perceive manipulation or hidden agendas behind word-of-mouth recommendations. [26] Discovering that influencers have vested interests in promoting a product can lead to skepticism and negative shifts in attitude, ultimately affecting brand reputation negatively. [26]
Similarly, engineered word-of-mouth campaigns by internet-focused companies face scrutiny for their perceived artificiality and invasion of privacy, further complicating the dynamics of consumer trust and perception in marketing strategies. [16]
Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson's 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing.
Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way that a virus spreads from one person to another. It can be delivered by word of mouth, or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet and mobile networks.
Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organisations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behaviour. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940–1950s as a distinct sub-discipline of marketing, but has become an interdisciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, ethnology, marketing, and economics.
Marketing communications refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination. Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate a message to their desired market, or the market in general. It is also in charge of the internal communications of the organization. Marketing communication tools include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, public relations, social media, customer journey and promotion.
In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, persuasively. It helps marketers to create a distinctive place in customers' mind, it can be either a cognitive or emotional route. The aim of promotion is to increase brand awareness, create interest, generate sales or create brand loyalty. It is one of the basic elements of the market mix, which includes the four Ps, i.e., product, price, place, and promotion.
In marketing and consumer behaviour, brand loyalty describes a consumer's persistent positive feelings towards a familiar brand and their dedication to purchasing the brand's products and/or services repeatedly regardless of deficiencies, a competitor's actions, or changes in the market environment. It can also be demonstrated with other behaviors such as positive word-of-mouth advocacy. Corporate brand loyalty is where an individual buys products from the same manufacturer repeatedly and without wavering, rather than from other suppliers. Loyalty implies dedication and should not be confused with habit, its less-than-emotional engagement and commitment. Businesses whose financial and ethical values rest in large part on their brand loyalty are said to use the loyalty business model.
Earned media is content relating to a person or organization, which is published by a third party without any form of payment to the publisher. It includes articles by media outlets, interviews with the person or representatives of the organization, or bylined editorials in trade press and other publications. The phrase "earned media" serves as a contrast to the concept of "paid media" or, simply advertising. It may also include social media sharing, unpaid mentions by podcast hosts and guests, or word-of-mouth marketing.
Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field. Influencers are someone with the power to affect the buying habits or quantifiable actions of others by uploading some form of original—often sponsored—content to social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok or other online channels. Influencer marketing is when a brand enrolls influencers who have an established credibility and audience on social media platforms to discuss or mention the brand in a social media post. Influencer content may be framed as testimonial advertising.
A viral email is an email which rapidly propagates from person to person, generally in a word-of-mouth manner. It is an example of a viral phenomenon, which is used for profit in viral marketing, but can also contribute to the propagation of Internet memes like viral videos.
Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. It has significantly transformed the way brands and businesses utilize technology for marketing since the 1990s and 2000s. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly used digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e-books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones, callbacks, and on-hold mobile ringtones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online marketing.
In the marketing and advertising industry, youth marketing consists of activities to communicate with young people, typically in the age range of 11 to 35. More specifically, there is teen marketing, targeting people age 11 to 17; college marketing, targeting college-age consumers, typically ages 18 to 24; and young adult marketing, targeting ages 25 to 34.
A touchpoint can be defined as any way consumers can interact with a business organization, whether person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication. When consumers connect with these touchpoints they can consider their perceptions of the business and form an opinion.
Customer engagement is an interaction between an external consumer/customer and an organization through various online or offline channels. According to Hollebeek, Srivastava and Chen, customer engagement is "a customer’s motivationally driven, volitional investment of operant resources, and operand resources into brand interactions," which applies to online and offline engagement.
Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is one of two dimensions from brand knowledge, an associative network memory model. It is a key consideration in consumer behavior, advertising management, and brand management. The consumer's ability to recognize or recall a brand is central to purchasing decision-making because purchasing cannot proceed unless a consumer is first aware of a product category and a brand within that category. Awareness does not necessarily mean that the consumer must be able to recall a specific brand name, but they must be able to recall enough distinguishing features for purchasing to proceed. Creating brand awareness is the main step in advertising a new product or bringing back the older brand in light.
Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used in order to achieve the following business goals: attract attention and generate leads, expand their customer base, generate or increase online sales, increase brand awareness or credibility, and engage a community of online users. Content marketing attracts new customers by creating and sharing valuable free content as well as by helping companies create sustainable brand loyalty, providing valuable information to consumers, and creating a willingness to purchase products from the company in the future.
Marketing buzz or simply buzz—a term used in viral marketing—is the interaction of consumers and users with a product or service which amplifies or alters the original marketing message. This emotion, energy, excitement, or anticipation about a product or service can be positive or negative. Buzz can be generated by intentional marketing activities by the brand owner or it can be the result of an independent event that enters public awareness through social or traditional media such as newspapers. Marketing buzz originally referred to oral communication but in the age of Web 2.0, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are now the dominant communication channels for marketing buzz.
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers.
Buzz monitoring is the monitoring of consumer responses to commercial services and products in order to establish the marketing buzz surrounding a new or existing offer. Similar to media monitoring, it is becoming increasingly popular as a base for strategic insight development alongside other forms of market research.
AISDALSLove, is a hierarchy of effects model in advertising adapted from AIDA's hierarchy of effects model which has been used by many researchers, both academicians and practitioners, to measure the effect of an advertisement.
Jonah Berger is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an author, and a viral marketer. He has published over 50 articles in academic journals, and has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review. More than a million copies of his books Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior, and The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind are in print in over 35 countries.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[...] this empirical analysis [...] argues that consumers spread the word on brands as a result of three drivers: social, emotional, and functional.
