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. Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings from everyday usage to technical settings 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. Short Message Service ( SMS) is a Communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices. 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. A rumour or rumor (see spelling differences) is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and Gossip is idle talk or Rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others An innuendo (also called insinuation) is a remark or question typically disparaging that works obliquely by Allusion. Not to be confused with Heresy. Hearsay is a legal term referring to the use of out of court statements as evidence
Word of mouth marketing (WOMM)
Word-of-mouth marketing, which encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause, influencer and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programs, work with consumer-generated media and more, 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). [1]
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. Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to Marketing techniques that use pre-existing Social networks to produce increases in Brand awareness Influencer marketing is increasingly used to seed WOMM by targeting key individuals that have authority and a high number of personal connections. Influencer marketing is a form of Marketing that has emerged from a variety of recent practices and studies in which focus is placed on specific key individuals (or types of
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. The Federal Trade Commission ( FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act "[2] 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. [3][4].
Word-of-mouth effects in the life cycle of cultural goods has been mathematically modelled. [5] 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. Facebook is a social networking Website launched on February 4 2004 YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload view and share Video clips YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees MySpace is a popular social networking Website offering an interactive user-submitted network of friends personal profiles blogs groups photos music and Digg is a Website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories and voting and commenting on submitted 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.
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. The Subservient Chicken is an advertising program created to promote international Fast food restaurant chain Burger King 's TenderCrisp 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.
Successful examples
- Affinitive's "American Skiing Company: MyA41. com Passholder Community" campaign, won a 2007 Wommie Award from The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). The American Skiing Company hosted an online social networking site, MyA41. com, for its "All for One" season pass holders. Nearly 4,000 users signed up to, and posted photos, stories, ski tips, and videos on the MyA41 site and spread the word about the "All for One" pass.
- Converseon's "Second Chance Tree Project[6] Takes Reforestation from Virtual World to Physical Worlds" campaign, which won a 2007 Wommie Award from WOMMA, used virtual world Second Life to help generate donations for Plant It 2020. The program, which allowed Second Life users to purchase a virtual tree on Second Chance Trees Island for 300 Linden dollars as a way to trigger the planting of a real tree in areas affected by deforestation. The program garnered the attention of thousands of avatars and was elected as the only social media initiative among the 50 finalists in the $5 million American Express Members Project competition.
- Fanscape's "Clear Channel NEW! Populating Site with Musicians Campaign" used music fans, grassroots tactics, and transparent outreach via sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Garage Band to spread the word about Clear Channel's music-focused website, NEW! In the first two weeks post-launch alone, the site received 1,500+ music submissions from independent bands and musicians. This program received a 2007 Wommie Award from WOMMA.
- With Quicken Loans' "How Quicken Loans Became a Yahoo! Answers Knowledge Partner" program, the company was able to leverage Yahoo! Answers to field questions that users were asking about home loans. The only rule Quicken Loans implemented to guide their answers was: "Answer the question. Don't tell them how great Quicken Loans is. Don't tell them how they will benefit from our products. Don't tell them anything except what they ask," which provided potential customers with information, instead of a sales pitch. The program received a 2007 Wommie Award from WOMMA.
See also
References
- ^ Grewal, R. Customer engagement refers to the engagement of customers with one another with a company or a brand Influencer marketing is a form of Marketing that has emerged from a variety of recent practices and studies in which focus is placed on specific key individuals (or types of A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people New Media Marketing is a relatively new concept utilized by businesses in developing an Online community, which allows satisfied customers to congregate and extol the virtues Evangelism marketing is an advanced form of Word of mouth marketing (WOMM in which companies develop customers who believe so strongly in a particular product or service that Undercover marketing (also known as buzz marketing, stealth marketing, or by its detractors roach baiting) is a subset of Guerrilla marketing Astroturfing in American English is a Neologism for formal Public relations campaigns in Politics and Advertising which seek to create the impression Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject Business Marketing is the practice of Individuals or organizations, including commercial businesses governments and institutions facilitating the sale of their products or Internet marketing, also referred to as web marketing, online marketing, Internet advertising, or eMarketing, is the Marketing Reputation management is the process of tracking an entity's actions and other entities' opinions about those actions reporting on those actions and opinions and reacting to , 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).
- ^ Laws Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission
- ^ Word of Mouth Marketing Association Ethics Code
- ^ American Marketing Association Best Practices for Word of Mouth Communications
- ^ 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.
- ^ Second Chance Trees Reforestation Project
- 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. Frederick F Reichheld (born
- 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.
External links
About the School The School conducts education and research in Leadership, Economics, Operations management,Dictionary
word of mouth
-noun
- (idiomatic) Verbal means of passing of information.
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