Word of Mouth Marketing Insights
Word of Mouth Marketing Insights
A Report
on
WORD OF MOUTH-AN
EFFECTIVE WAY OF
COMMUNICATION
By
Digvijay Gaur
08BS0000947
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on
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Acknowledgement:
should not be shelved but should be happily shared with others”. In this regard we
are extremely fortunate to have done a project on consumer behavior.
I also want to give my gratitude to Dean, ICFAI Business School and other persons
of the Institute, to give me an opportunity of exploring new things and adding
value to my knowledge.
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Executive Summary
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I. Introduction :
Word of mouth:
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With the emergence of Web 2.0, many web start-ups like facebook,
youtube, myspace, and digg have used buzz marketing by merging it with
the social networks that they have developed. With the increasing use of
the Internet as a research and communications platform, word of mouth
has become an even more powerful and useful resource for consumers
and marketers. Tracking this online 'buzz' has led to the rise of a range of
services and tools known as buzz monitoring as a component of online
public relations.
Successful example:
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Cons
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Cons
Cons
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Cons
Cons
Cons
Cons
The answer is a resounding YES, but on a slightly different scale. You certainly
want to maximize your marketing through coordination.
Let’s take a look at how your advertising reach is increased when you use different
media in combination.
Consider the percentage of people in your total target audience that you reach
when you advertise in the newspaper. Here is a good example of what is going on
in the real world:
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With a newspaper ad you reach 25% of your total target group. Add a yellow page
ad, and you reach an additional 18% of the people. Add a direct mail piece, and
you reach an additional 19% of the people. Add television advertising, and you
reach an additional 15% of the people. Add radio, and you reach an additional 8%
of the people.
By using multiple media outlets you have reached more of your target audience
with your marketing and advertising. You have also reached them multiple times
because they get messages from different places.
Your messages reinforce each other. The result is an overall higher response at a
lower cost. You have created synergy with your marketing and advertising.
It works because different people pay more attention to [and have more faith in]
different types of media. When seriously reviewing ads for a product, about 25%
of people review and trust the newspaper. 18% consider direct mail, 21% the
yellow pages, 8% television, 4% radio, and 4% magazines.
The numbers in these examples are only an approximation of what really happens
in the marketplace, and they change according to product category. But it is clear
that by using different kinds of media [like the yellow pages and direct mail
together], or even different media outlets, [like multiple newspapers], you can and
will reach more potential customers more effectively with your marketing and
advertising.
There is the matter of overlap between the different media to consider. You have to
assume that the different media will duplicate your message with a percentage of
your target audience beyond the effective frequency level required.
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Primary Research
Objective:
(D) To study in detail the extent of relation between movies and WORD
OF MOUTH as a tool of advertisement.
(E) To study in detail the extent of relation between MP3 Players and
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Problem Components:
Sampling:
Universe: The universe is entire group of items the researchers wish to study and
about which they plan to generalize. For this, the universe consists of people of
Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon who involves in purchasing of any of three categories
(consumer appliances, FMCG or Automobiles).
Sample Size: 75
Sampling Technique: Quota sampling where control characteristics will be: Sex,
Age.
Quota Sampling may be viewed as two stages restricted judgmental sampling. The
first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas, of population
elements. First, researchers have to list relevant control characteristics and
determine the distribution of these characteristics in the target population.
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Sample Composition
Control Percentage Number
Characteristic
Sex:
Male 48 36
Femal 52 39
e
Age:
< 25 52 39
26-40 26.67 20
41-55 13.34 10
Over 55 8 6
Since the research aims at finding the attitude of people towards the different
media of advertising, a conclusive research was conducted. The data collection
form was designed in the form of a standard questionnaire because it is more
reliable than unstructured format. By reducing the chance or the sample to
influence results through different questions and through different judgment of
answers and what to record, the structured questionnaire produces more reliable
results i.e. if the research project is repeated in the same manner, similar results
will be obtained.
Most of the questions asked in the questionnaire were closed ended with a few
open-ended questions also, to know consumers general views. Some questions are
designed for the purpose of cross checking the samples genuineness in filling the
questionnaire.
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For the purpose of analysis, ranking scale (Likert Scale) is used to rank the
preferences of attributes of the customers.
A brief flow-chart is given in the next page to sum up all the research process:
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Data Analysis:
39 %
61%
Male in % Female in %
18-25 26-30
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3.75% in “40+”
0.77
0.8
0.61 0.63
0.6
0.4
0.4 0.33
0.2
0.05
0
A B C D E F
EXTEN T OF IN FLU EN C E
A. Trade Magazine.
B. Professional Meeting.
C. Internet.
D. Mass Media
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E. Peers/colleagues.
F. Others.
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0.7 0.6 6
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
A
R e libility o f info
5. How often do your colleagues / peers look to you for information about
products?
13% 18%
69%
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0% 10%
15%
33% 42%
63
80
60 2 8 .4
40 6 .1 7 2 .4 5
20
0
N o C h a nscoem e G o o Ad lm o s t S u r e
p o s s ibPilit
o sys ib ilit y
% O F A p p r o v a l w i th th e o p ti o n
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8. What are you most likely to do if you are dissatisfied with a product/
service as a customer or with the organisation as an employee?
35
30 28.7 5 28.75
25
25
20 17.5
15
10
0
put up shift complain share negative
coments
% Approval with the option
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9. Listed are a few products/ services. Which of these would you NEVER
buy without consulting your colleagues / experts?
any other 8
cars 44
holiday 36
internet 38
consumer 39
hotels 32
banking 40
0 10 20 30 40 50
approvals rate
A. Banking
B. Hotels
C. Consumer
D. Internet
E. Holiday
F. Cars
G. Any other.
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10. If you are a satisfied customer of a product and you happen to hear a
negative comment about it from your friend, you are most likely to:
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0.7
0.64
0.6
0.5
0.4
importance
Importance of multiplex
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
A
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[Link] indicate the rank of the following members whose opinion holds
importance for you before you decide to watch a movie
Any
AO
nt
yhe
o rer
th 0.06
0.42
Parents
Parents 0.5
0.38
Friends 0.75
Friends
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Im
Imp po
orta rt
nceance
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80 75.3
70 65
60 56
50
41
40 34
29.4
30
19.4
20 13 14
11
10 5.1
2
0
Mostly Sometimes Never
Mostly Sometimes Never
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2. You are likely to act on about one in 3-5 recommendations from friends.
If 25 people tell 25 people 6 times, it’s the entire population of the world!
Once 25 x 25 = 625
twice x 25 = 15,625
3x x 25 = 390,635
4x x 25 = 9,765,625
5x x 25 = 244,140,625 (order of magnitude of pop. of US!)
6x x 25 = 6,103,515,625 (population of the WORLD! Approx.)
Obviously, this assumes that no one tells someone who has already heard. In real
life, there are many duplicates, creating the impression that “everyone is talking
about it,” -- which they are -- making action even more likely.
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• The sample size being very small, that is only seventy five
respondents, limited the scope and study of the project.
Time constraints put boundaries to the sample area and hence limited the
extent of the study.
• Mostly people do not tell what exactly they think.
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Bibliography:
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
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Annexure
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Before buying a new product or innovation, which source do you think is the most
important? (Rate on 1- 5 scale)
1- very important
5- very unimportant
2. How reliable do you feel is the information obtained from other individuals?
(Rate on a 1 to 10 scale)
1- very reliable
10- very unreliable
Information obtained from other individuals Rating: _________
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3. How often do your colleagues / peers look to you for information about products?
(Tick mark the box applicable)
NEVER
SOMETIMES
FREQUENTLY
5. Do you try to convince / persuade a skeptic (One who thinks negatively about
something) if you are loyal to that same brand or are positive about the company?
YES
NO
( If YES, please continue. If NO please proceed from Q. no. 9)
6. Would you continue to talk about a specific product with your peers if their interest to
know about the product is low?
□ YES
□ NO
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9. After having received negative comments about a product/ service, how likely are
you to go ahead and buy it?
NO CHANCE
SOME POSSIBILITY
GOOD POSSIBILITY
VERY PROBABLY
ALMOST SURE
If yes why?
10. What are you most likely to do if you are dissatisfied with a product/ service as a
customer or with the organisation as an employee?
Put up with it till it is possible
Shift to another alternative immediately
Complain about it to the organisation
Share your negative experience with others
11. What kind of products/ services would you NEVER buy without consulting your
colleagues / experts?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
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12. If you are a satisfied customer of a product and you happen to hear a negative
comment about it from your friend, you are most likely to:
Ignore it
Try to convince your friend about your opinion
Get influenced by your friend
13. Do you usually recommend to others the brands you are loyal to?
YES
NO
Regarding yourself, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements: ( Rate
on a 1 to 10 scale)
1- strongly agree
10- strongly disagree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STRONGLY STRONGLY
AGREE DISAGREE
15. I am nervous about choosing a product about which I don’t know much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STRONGLY STRONGLY
AGREE DISAGREE
16. I like to try out new products even if I know little about them
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STRONGLY STRONGLY
AGREE DISAGREE
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STRONGLY STRONGLY
AGREE DISAGREE
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