Tool Up for Word-of-Mouth

What stimulates your customers to spread good news about your store? Researchers at Aston University and University of Surrey set out to answer this and related questions by analyzing results from prior studies conducted on a grand total of 239,000 shoppers from 41 countries regarding 24 tools.
     The tools—also called instruments or factors—that made the biggest difference for word-of-mouth (WOM), according to the meta-analysis:

• Excellent customer service 
• A coordinated blend of attractive visual décor, appealing music, and tempting scents 
• Easy maneuverability around the store 
• A useful mix of other types of retailers in the vicinity of the store 

     These four have outsized importance because they lend themselves well to brief reminiscences shoppers can relate to family and friends about their shopping experiences.
     The researchers were initially surprised that low prices didn’t make the cut as a top tool. Their explanation is that people enjoy getting a good deal, but fear that bragging about it to others will make them look cheap, threatening their social standing. It also could be that even those figuring they got a good price think others would consider it not good enough. Studies at University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and University of British Columbia found that when people believe they might have been able to wrangle a better deal on a product or service, this conclusion leads to them feeling a threat to their self-esteem and their self-image. They fear not only that others will see them as being suckers, but also that they’ll see themselves that way.
     Because of WOM’s value, are you now tempted to repeatedly point out to your shoppers how you’re doing well on those top four factors identified by the meta-analysis? Curb that urge. Researchers at University of Miami and University of Pennsylvania say you’d do better by hinting at it and allowing your shoppers to discover the rest for themselves. Customers are substantially more likely to share WOM with others if they have found at least some of the information on their own. In addition to the thrill of discovery, a major reason for this is that we associate discovered information with our self-image. We are less likely to criticize the information as unfounded or uninteresting.
     The advice for retailers wanting more WOM is to build shoppers’ knowledge about what is offered, then encourage shoppers to uncover for themselves the full extent of the four tools.

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

Click below for more: 
Interpret Flawed Price Memory as Satisfaction
Worm Your Way into WOM with Self-Discovery
Meter Your Customer Service