Word of mouth marketing
(also called buzz marketing, grassroots marketing, peer-to-peer marketing, person-to-person marketing, evangelism marketing, or referral marketing)
(also called buzz marketing, grassroots marketing, peer-to-peer marketing, person-to-person marketing, evangelism marketing, or referral marketing)
DESCRIPTION
An approach aimed at leveraging the use of personal recommendations and referrals in the marketplace as a major basis for the firm’s marketing efforts and where a desirable effect is a marketplace buzz, or intense and interactive word-of-mouth communication in the marketplace.
An approach aimed at leveraging the use of personal recommendations and referrals in the marketplace as a major basis for the firm’s marketing efforts and where a desirable effect is a marketplace buzz, or intense and interactive word-of-mouth communication in the marketplace.
KEY INSIGHTS
A word-of-mouth marketing approach often involves identifying and cultivating opinion leaders for the firm’s offerings and encouraging them to spread positive information about the offering to others. While buzz marketing is frequently used interchangeably with word-of-mouth marketing, a similar but little-used term is that of evangelism marketing, which may be viewed as a somewhat more extreme version of word-of-mouth marketing characterized by a marketing emphasis on developing customers with exceptionally strong convictions in the firm’s offerings— to such an extent that such customers actively and voluntarily persuade others to adopt the offerings. As a word-of-mouth marketing approach benefits from source credibility and may involve little marketing expenditure, the approach is considered to be valuable by many marketers. A variation of word-of-mouth marketing is viral marketing, which makes use of the internet for its effectiveness (see viral marketing).
A word-of-mouth marketing approach often involves identifying and cultivating opinion leaders for the firm’s offerings and encouraging them to spread positive information about the offering to others. While buzz marketing is frequently used interchangeably with word-of-mouth marketing, a similar but little-used term is that of evangelism marketing, which may be viewed as a somewhat more extreme version of word-of-mouth marketing characterized by a marketing emphasis on developing customers with exceptionally strong convictions in the firm’s offerings— to such an extent that such customers actively and voluntarily persuade others to adopt the offerings. As a word-of-mouth marketing approach benefits from source credibility and may involve little marketing expenditure, the approach is considered to be valuable by many marketers. A variation of word-of-mouth marketing is viral marketing, which makes use of the internet for its effectiveness (see viral marketing).
KEYWORDS Verbal communication, informal communication
IMPLICATIONS
As the intent of marketers using word-of-mouth marketing is to produce highly beneficial and dramatic word-of-mouth effects (see wordof- mouth effect) through word-of-mouth communication (see word-ofmouth communication), marketers should seek to understand better how and to what extent such effects may be produced by the firm’s efforts relative to its particular product offerings in order to leverage such knowledge in the firm’s strategies and tactics. For example, a firm’s wordof- mouth marketing strategy may involve use of traditional informal communication channels as well as communication via the internet.
As the intent of marketers using word-of-mouth marketing is to produce highly beneficial and dramatic word-of-mouth effects (see wordof- mouth effect) through word-of-mouth communication (see word-ofmouth communication), marketers should seek to understand better how and to what extent such effects may be produced by the firm’s efforts relative to its particular product offerings in order to leverage such knowledge in the firm’s strategies and tactics. For example, a firm’s wordof- mouth marketing strategy may involve use of traditional informal communication channels as well as communication via the internet.
APPLICATION AREAS AND FURTHER READINGS
Marketing Strategy
Rosen, Emanuel (2000). The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing. New York: Doubleday.
Rosen, Emanuel (2000). The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing. New York: Doubleday.
Consumer Behavior
Goldenberg, J., Libai, B., and Muller, E. (2001). ‘Talk of the Network: A Complex Systems Look at the Underlying Process of Word-of-Mouth,’ Marketing Letters, 12(3), 211–224.
Goldenberg, J., Libai, B., and Muller, E. (2001). ‘Talk of the Network: A Complex Systems Look at the Underlying Process of Word-of-Mouth,’ Marketing Letters, 12(3), 211–224.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dichter, Ernst (1966). ‘How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Works,’ Harvard Business
Review, 44 (6), 148.
Dichter, Ernst (1966). ‘How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Works,’ Harvard Business
Review, 44 (6), 148.
World Wide Web marketing see online marketing; Web marketing
worldwide marketing see global marketing
WWWmarketing see online marketing; Web marketing
worldwide marketing see global marketing
WWWmarketing see online marketing; Web marketing