Word of mouth

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The term word of mouth (or word-of-mouth propaganda ) stands for the dissemination of information or recommendations through oral communication in face-to-face conversations "by word of mouth", so that it will soon really be "on everyone's lips". Accordingly, in contrast to propaganda in the conventional sense, for example, a speech that is given in public or in front of many is not considered word of mouth, although it also conveys information orally.

Word of mouth is often uncontrolled and not widespread. It is about more or less opinion-forming “talking about something”. (“I saw something there” or “Have you heard that?”). But it can also - in the manner of classic propaganda - be started in a targeted manner in order to get information out to the people or to spread rumors. ("If you are satisfied with my work, please pass it on - but if not, tell me!")

Because of the independence from the media and the intimacy of the distribution situation, it is often assumed that word of mouth is particularly trustworthy. 90 percent of consumers worldwide trust the advice of acquaintances. Spreading a rumor may be desirable or undesirable depending on your point of view; The subversive form of word of mouth, in which the dissemination of information is particularly sensitive and in which intimacy plays the greatest role, is known as whispered propaganda .

Use in marketing

Word of mouth is a German synonym for Word-of-Mouth (WOM) . In marketing, “word-of-mouth” is understood as an informal, judgmental expression of opinion about brands, products, services and companies between consumers.

The word of mouth marketing (Engl. Word-of-mouth marketing ) will control activities in a manner that is spoken in the appropriate target groups positively as possible over a provider or its products and services. This should arouse attention and interest, increase awareness, image and, as a result, sales figures.

A recommendation passed on via word of mouth implies, beyond pure communication, an influential reference to action, also of a positive or negative nature, which in most cases is preceded by one's own experience with the respective offer. (“I can warmly recommend you!” Or “Don't buy this!”) As a rule, the person making the recommendation is assumed to have a non-commercial interest. Recommendations can be systematically controlled through recommendation marketing .

Classic advertising is increasingly being supplemented or replaced by word of mouth marketing, especially in connection with social media marketing . In everyday consumer life, for example, one encounters it as a review on opinion portals and in online shops, in the form of product reviews or as an experience report on the various social media platforms. The aim is to generate as much positive buzz (“talk”, “murmur”) as possible about a product, service or company.

Definition of the word-of-mouth in classical literature

Arndt (1967) was one of the first researchers who dealt with the influence of word-of-mouth on consumer behavior and wrote down the term in a catchy definition. Arndt (1967) defines word-of-mouth as “oral person to person communication between a receiver and a communicator whom the receiver perceives as non-commercial, regarding a brand, a product or a service”. Word-of-mouth does not necessarily have to be product, brand or service-related, it can also be focused on an organization, for example.

Nyilasy (2006) divides the definition by Arndt (1967), based on an analysis of over 150 scientific publications, into three essential parts of the word-of-mouth. Firstly, the traditional word-of-mouth is interpersonal communication and must therefore be clearly distinguished from mass communication and other impersonal forms of communication. It is characterized by the fact that it can run in both directions with potentially constant feedback effects. Basically, the traditional word-of-mouth assumes that the recipient actively participates in the communication and can therefore react directly to what is communicated.

Second, the content of personal communications is commercial. "The message is about commercial entities, products, product categories, brands and marketers - or even their advertising." According to Nyilasy, Word-of-Mouth in connection with marketing, consumer behavior and mass communication must be differentiated from its use in everyday language, in which Word -of-Mouth is often used for any kind of interpersonal communication . However, this does not mean that Word-of-Mouth is always consciously controlled by a company, or that it must be beneficial for the company concerned. Rather, word-of-mouth is a naturally occurring phenomenon in consumer behavior and “it may or may not be induced by the conscious efforts of marketers”.

Thirdly, the content of the word-of-mouth is commercial, but the sender is perceived by the recipient as not being commercially motivated. This definition does not exclude a commercially motivated broadcaster. As Nyilasy aptly puts it: “In this case [a commercially motivated broadcaster; Note d. Ed.], Perception is reality ”.

Westbrook (1987) defines word-of-mouth very similarly to Arndt (1967):

"Word-of-mouth [...] consists of informal communications directed at other consumers about ownership, usage, or characteristics of particular goods and services and / or their sellers".

In contrast to the definition by Arndt (1967), who sees word-of-mouth solely as oral communication between a sender and a recipient and thus excludes, among other things, written and non-verbal communication, Westbrook does not limit word-of-mouth to just that oral tradition, but includes all informal communication between consumers. This more general understanding of the word-of-mouth is widely used in the literature.

Word-of-mouth in an online context

As digitization progresses, WOM is increasingly shifting into the online context. The term electronic WOM (eWOM, also: word of mouse ) established itself through the partial relocation of communication to the Internet and social media . The construct is defined as

"Any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customer about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet."

The biggest difference between the eWOM and the classic WOM is that information is no longer presented orally, but in writing or audiovisually in the form of videos and that communication participants are no longer in the same place to disseminate the information. In addition, information can be stored at eWOM, which enables a subsequent search for specific messages.

eWOM on social media

In social media in particular, the information exchanged often consists of product recommendations or has an advertising background. According to a study by Pfeffer et al. (2014), social media in particular offer a high potential for negative word of mouth (so-called online firestorms ). According to the authors, the reasons for this are the following properties:

  1. Speed ​​& extent of communication
  2. Binary reaction choice (like / dislike)
  3. Network structure (great distribution possibility)
  4. Unrestricted flow of information
  5. Lack of information diversity (systematic information restriction through filter bubbles and echo chambers)
  6. Cross-media dynamics (reporting of social media content in other formats such as TV / radio)
  7. Network-related decision-making processes (influencing the formation of opinions through points 1–6)

See also

literature

  • Justin Kirby, Paul Marsden: Connected Marketing . Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 2006, ISBN 0-7506-6634-X .
  • Sascha Langner: Viral Marketing . Gabler, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-8349-0595-X .
  • Bernd Röthlingshöfer: Word of mouth marketing: What makes companies really successful. dtv, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-423-50914-5 .
  • Emanuel Rosen: The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-life lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing . Broadway Business, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-52632-6 .
  • Anne M. Schüller, T. Schwarz (Ed.): Guideline WOM Marketing. Absolit, Waghäusel 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-030470-5 .
  • Anne M. Schüller: Future trend recommendation marketing. 4th edition. Business Village, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-280-05382-9 .
  • Ossi Urchs, Alexander Körner: word of mouth marketing. In: Torsten Schwarz: Guide to Online Marketing . marketing-BÖRSE GmbH, Waghäusel 2007, ISBN 978-3-00-020904-8 , p. 672 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ rumors, news go from mouth to mouth (already mhd. Von munde ze munde LEXER 1, 2232). In: Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm: German Dictionary. Volume 12, S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1960, columns 2669–2687.
  2. ↑ Frauke Schobelt: Nielsen: Consumers trust word of mouth and the media.
  3. ^ Word of Mouth. In: Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon. Springer specialist media.
  4. ↑ Sabine Andres: word of mouth marketing: current development, assessment and expert opinions. Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-8324-9342-5 . (Preview on Google Books, accessed June 2, 2012)
  5. ↑ Bernd Röthlingshöfer: How do you trigger word of mouth? ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 401 kB) In: Word of mouth marketing. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-423-50914-5 . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / berndroethlingshoefer.typepad.com
  6. ↑ Alexander Körner in WOM Marketing Guide.
  7. ^ Johan Arndt: Word of Mouth Advertising and Informal Communication . In: Donald F. Cox (Ed.): Risk Taking and Information Handling in Consumer Behavior . Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, Boston 1967, p. 195 .
  8. ^ Francis A. Buttle: Word of mouth: understanding and managing referral marketing . In: Journal of Strategic Marketing . tape 6 , no. 3 , January 10, 2011, p. 243 , doi : 10.1080 / 096525498346658 .
  9. ↑ a b c Greg Nyilasy: Word of Mouth: What We Really Know - And What We Do not . In: Justin Kirby, Paul Marsden (Eds.): Connected marketing: the viral, buzz and word of mouth revolution . Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-0-7506-6634-3 , pp. 163–165 ( abufara.com [PDF]).
  10. ↑ Bettina Lis, Simon Korchmar: Digitales Recommendation Marketing: Concept, Theories and Determinants for the Credibility of the Electronic Word-of-Mouth (EWOM) . Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-01008-9 , pp. 6 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-658-01008-9 .
  11. ^ Robert A. Westbrook: Product / Consumption-Based Affective Responses and Postpurchase Processes . In: Journal of Marketing Research . tape 24 , no. 3 , 1987, pp. 258-270 , doi : 10.2307 / 3151636 , JSTOR : 3151636 .
  12. ^ A b Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, Gianfranco Walsh, Gianfranco Walsh: Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Motives for and Consequences of Reading Customer Articulations on the Internet . In: International Journal of Electronic Commerce . tape 8 , no. 2 , December 1, 2003, p. 51 , doi : 10.1080 / 10864415.2003.11044293 .
  13. ↑ Stephen W. Litvin, Ronald E. Goldsmith, Bing Pan: Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management . In: Tourism Management . tape 29 , no. 3 , June 1, 2008, p. 459 , doi : 10.1016 / j.tourman.2007.05.011 .
  14. ^ Eugene W. Anderson: Customer Satisfaction and Word of Mouth . In: Journal of Service Research . tape 1 , no. 1 , August 1, 1998, ISSN  1094-6705 , p. 6 , doi : 10.1177 / 109467059800100102 .
  15. ↑ a b c Konstantin Ripperger, Markus Appel: Word-of-Mouth: From mouth-to-mouth propaganda to viral marketing . In: The psychology of the post-factual: About fake news, "Lügenpresse", Clickbait & Co. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg 2020, ISBN 978-3-662-58695-2 , p. 167–176 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-58695-2_15 (DOI = 10.1007 / 978-3-662-58695-2_15 [accessed January 12, 2020]).
  16. ↑ Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, Kevin P. Gwinner, Gianfranco Walsh, Dwayne D. Gremler: Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet? In: Journal of Interactive Marketing . tape 18 , no. 1 , January 1, 2004, ISSN  1094-9968 , p. 38–52 , doi : 10.1002 / dir.10073 ( sciencedirect.com [accessed January 12, 2020]).
  17. ↑ J. Pfeffer, T. Zorbach, KM Carley: Understanding online firestorms: Negative word-of-mouth dynamics in social media networks . In: Journal of Marketing Communications . tape 20 , no. 1-2 , March 4, 2014, ISSN  1352-7266 , p. 117–128 , doi : 10.1080 / 13527266.2013.797778 (DOI = 10.1080 / 13527266.2013.797778 [accessed on January 12, 2020]).