Viral Marketing
Group 3

Introduction

I)

II) Intrapersonal Variable

III) Negative & Positive WOM

IV) WOM with Services

V) Cultural Limitation of WOM
Opinion Leader & Mass Marketing
Table of content
Introduction

With text messages, emails, wall posts and tweets, it’s easier to
communicate than ever before.

The easier it is to talk, the faster information will spread. As you
may know, word of mouth (WOM) advertising is the most
effective form of consumer persuasion
Evolution of Marketing
Communication
Theory of mass communication (< 1940)
Vs.
Concept of “Opinion Leaders” (late 1940s)
Person
1
Marketer
Opinion
Leader
Person
2
Person
3
Person
X
Attitudes
+
behaviors

All levels and in all groupings of society

Influential on one or several topics

Three common characteristics:
◦ Social participation
◦ Social status
◦ cosmopolitanism
Opinion Leaders
PR strategy
 use WOM to promote Microsoft Vista
notebooks

Opinion leaders
High Profile Bloggers

Case of
…
Scandal in 2006
MS accused of bribery

Consequences
Negative Publicity vs. Positive Buzz

… and its PR scandal.

Customer satisfaction is the key of
positive WOM

Focus on customers
expectations
Interpersonal Variable
What did you think about the
iPhone 5C?
Positive WOM vs Negative WOM

Negative WOM = unsatisfactory imbalance between
expectations and perceptions. It is one form of customer
complaining behavior.

Both positive and negative WOM is a force that can
influence the purchase behavior of consumers.

75% of the general population say
when they've had a bad experience
with a product they advise friends
and family.
Positive WOM vs Negative WOM

Negative WOM has a stronger impact because the
consumers will spread even more the information in order
to prevent the others to live the same bad experience.
Ex: Theme park customer

Negative WOM has 2.4% more financial impact than
positive comments: negative comments increase 
profits decreased.

If a customer has a positive experience with your company
they will tell on average 3 people, if they have a negative
experience they will tell 12 people.

More than one-quarter of US consumers (26%) say they
are more likely to tell family, friends, and coworkers about
a bad experience with a product or service than a good one
Positive WOM vs Negative WOM
Illustrating video:
The word-of-mouth for services

WOM appears more efficient for a service (someone who
you trust in)

But WOM for a product is more effective than for a word of
mouth about celebrities because people don’t even know
the person and can’t be related to the famous person and
who just recommend a product
Cultural Limitation
China
USA
Conception of self
Collectivist
Individualist
Social relationship
Formal, hierarchical
Informal, egalitarian
Friendship
Small number of close,
lifelong friends
Large collection of
"friends" and
acquaintances
Obligations
Relationships with
other people involve
reciprocal obligations
People avoid
interdependent
relationships
Time
Consciousness
Relatively more
Less interested in the
attention to the past
past; eye on nearand to the longer-term
term future
future
Ascribed vs.
Achieved Status
Inherited
characteristics
% of people
considering F&F
recommendations
66%
Lifestyle
Own achievements
38%
Thank you for
your attention