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Those who volunteer for word-of-mouth campaigns prefer talking about - surprise - easy-to-talk-about products, and those from established marketers, according to new study, while another says novelty does play in important role in WOM.
Unusual or unique products, because they’re harder to explain, are not the ones that WOM marketing firm BzzAgent’s volunteers tend to select for their evangelism efforts, according to a study by the firm and the Keller Fay Group, writes MediaPost (via MarketingVOX). Some 45 percent of the volunteers said they chose products that were “easy to talk about,” and 40 percent said they touted products from “a trusted name.” Established brands Toyota and Wal-Mart engender the most WOM, according to a separate study (PDF) from Keller Fay.
Meanwhile, a Marketing Science Institute study of how originality and usefulness affect word-of-mouth finds while product originality increases consumers’ willingness to exchange information about the product (the amount of WOM), product usefulness determines whether that information is positive or negative (the valence of WOM). And the combination of high originality and low usefulness leads to high amounts of negative WOM (via MarketingProfs Daily Fix).
Only 24 percent of BzzAgent agents said they selected “innovative” products, 23 percent selected “new and unique” ones, and 21 percent “smart” products. The takeaway, according to Jon Barry, SVP at Keller Fay, is that companies looking for WOM (well, at least via the means that the WOM firm employs) should focus on products’ basic features rather than launch flashy campaigns to create buzz.
A second Marketing Science Institute study, however, reaffirms that originality increases WOM and finds that usefulness, by increasing positive WOM and decreasing negative WOM, determines the market size for an innovation.
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