The Importance of Word of Mouth (WOM)
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Buyer Behavior Term Paper
Chelsea Guererri
April 10, 2012
Table of Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Can We Depend on the Knowledge of our Close Friends? ……………………………..3
Advertising Effectiveness and Post Purchase Behaviors………………………….…......4 Buzz Marketing: A Newer Way of WOM……………………..…………….………….6
Consumers Response to Peer Recommendations Online………………………………..8
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………10
References………………………………………………………………………………11
Introduction Word of mouth happens every day all around us. Family, friends, acquaintances, or complete strangers talk about or post opinions and information on products or services they have purchased, or new and upcoming products that people want to know and learn about. The quality of word of mouth determines the extent to which consumers trust the brand and how they react and behave. Word of mouth has and is becoming a more powerful aspect for companies, and are realizing how important it is when it comes to advertising.
Can We Depend on the Knowledge of our Close Friends?
The Influence of Friends’ Opinions on Purchases Consumers feel comfortable and tend to rely on their close friends opinions and recommendations when they are seeking to buy a product (Gershoff, A., Johar, G. 2006). Consumers take the opinions of people close to them seriously and like to believe that they know what they like and prefer when shopping for products ranging from a type of coffee brand to buying a new car for the family. The main focus here is whether or not friends have the right amount of knowledge to help determine what we should and should not purchase.
Friends Perceptions of our Preferences: Correct or Not? According to the Gershoff and Johar (2006), there are two factors causing consumers to overestimate their close friend’s knowledge of what we prefer for the
References: Gershoff, A., Johar, G. 2006. Do You Know Me? Consumer Calibration of Friends’ Knowledge. Hung, K., Li, S. 2007. The Influence of EWOM on Virtual Consumer Communities: Social Capital, Consumer Learning, and Behavioral Outcomes. Journal of Advertising Research. 47 (4), 484-495 Kim, H Notarantonio, E.M. Quigley, C.J. 2009. The Effectiveness of a Buzz Marketing Approach Compared to Traditional Advertising: An Exploration.Journal of Promotion Management, 15 (4), 455-464. Zhao, M., Xie, J