Generate WOM in the Right Places

People look to others for advice before making purchases. That’s why we encourage customers to talk to friends and post online reviews. But a report from marketing consultancy Harbinger gives reason for caution in word-of-mouth campaigns: The ways in which consumers access and use recommendations differ by product category.
     Harbinger specializes in marketing research and communications with women consumers. This study surveyed 2,134 women in Canada and the United States through the Ipsos online panel. I believe that many of the study conclusions would also hold for men in principle. My advice to retailers is to find out from your customers where they’re looking for recommendations and then encourage them to furnish their recommendations in those sorts of places. Verbal encouragement will come from mentioning to the customers reasons important to them for giving specific, balanced information to others.

• The frequencies with which the women read and write reviews differ by product category. With a toy, about 20% will read reviews when shopping and about 10% will write a review after purchase. On the other hand, with an automobile, about 40% will read reviews when shopping, but only about 5% will write a review after purchase. With automobile-related products, your encouragement to women to give reviews will need to be more vigorous.
• For almost all product and services categories, family and friends were the most popular sources for recommendations. But for restaurants, casual acquaintances were the second most popular source, and for financial products, family and friends took second place to expert and professional reviews.
• For almost all product and service categories, the consumers were motivated to give and post recommendations in order to help other people make smart purchases. With automobiles and with entertainment, a distinctive motivator was for the consumer to display her expertise. With the home furnishings and food/beverages categories, a distinctive motivator for sharing was the opportunity to help improve the products.

     With some consumers—such as market mavens—you might choose to go beyond verbal encouragement. Market mavens are a special type of opinion leader who counsel others about the whole shopping experience and recommend specific stores. When you’ve identified a market maven, offer gifts to encourage them to consider your store. A study based at Providence College and University of Connecticut indicates that the confidence with which market mavens issue their recommendations means they can be influential for you.

Click below for more:
Attend to Face-to-Face Word-of-Mouth
Encourage Specifics & Criticism in Word-of-Mouth
Build Buzz with Market Mavens