WOM Research: Moms Buzz about Brands

New moms and pregnant women have over 109 word-of-mouth conversations per week about products, services, and brands, most of them positive and considered highly credible by other moms, according to a Keller Fay study conducted for BabyCenter, MarketingCharts writes.

Per day, the group engages in one-third more word-of-mouth (WOM) conversation than the total public or women in general, the study found (view chart).

Among other findings:

• Fully 60 percent of conversations among the studied group carry with them a recommendation to buy, try, or consider the brands under discussion.
  • Positive brand sentiment outweighs negative by a 10-to-1 margin.
  • In shopping, retail, and apparel, 69 percent of the group is likely to purchase based on what they heard.
• The group has higher WOM credibility than the total public and total women - in various capacities (e.g., propensity to pass along info, purchase intent) - see chart.
• They are more likely to qualify as WOM influencers (60 percent more so than the total public, 45 percent more so than total women).
• Close to 1 in 5 pregnant and new moms were identified as WOM leaders or Conversation Catalysts (based on their recommending behavior and size of social network).

Content, Sources of Online Conversations

Pregnant and new moms are talking about technology, financial services, healthcare, food/dining, media/entertainment, packaged goods, shopping and retail experiences, the study found:

• Half or more of those surveyed said they had least one conversation per day about the above topics.
• Retailer, consumer electronic, and soft drink brands dominated the top 10 most talked about brands - see the top 10 list.

Most discussions about brands and products occur in person; discussion content, however, is often provided by various media, especially the internet and television - see table of influential media.

“Moms have a natural desire to share ideas and information with each other. The rich content and community experience found on the internet plays a key role in driving these conversations,” said Tina Sharkey, chairman and global president, BabyCenter, LLC.

About the study: In Jan. ‘08, Keller Fay interviewed a sample of 1,721 women (18+) who were pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or have one or more children age five or under. The women, recruited through the BabyCenter 21st Century Mom Panel, BabyCenter’s website, and an external panel, completed an online survey about their face-to-face, telephone, or online conversations about brands across 14 categories during the 24 hours that immediately preceded the survey. Data for the total public and total women was drawn from Keller Fay’s TalkTrack, an ongoing study of word-of-mouth conversations in the US.