word of mouth

WORD OF MOUTH

all informal communications directed at other consumers about the ownership, usage, or characteristics of particular goods and services or their sellers (Westbrook, 1987)

WOM can be any oral and personal communication, positive or negative, about a brand, product, service, or organization, in which the receiver of the message perceives the sender to have a non-commercial intention (Arndt, 1967).

Assael (1992) defined word-of mouth to be communication between two or more of individuals, for instance, reference groups, customers and/or sellers.

Electronic Word of mouth (EWOM):‘any positive or negative statements made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet’ (Henning-Thurau et al. 2004).

Difference between WOM and EWOM:interpersonal WOM is traditionally shared face to face between people who are familiar with one another. While eWOM’s communication flow also can be among people who are personally familiar with one another (e.g., friends on Facebook), there is potential for a greater degree of variability in the familiarity among friends in electronic networks.

Positive word of mouth:Is positive information made by satisfied customers about the products or services they consume, and it is more informative.

Negative word of mouth:is negative information conveyed by consumers because of dissatisfaction with the products or services they consume and it tends towards being a warning to be careful in using the product or service that is being communicated.

The most important factors in WOM:•Characteristics of the sender and the receiver and their interrelationship. •The context within which interpersonal and non-interpersonal factors interact. •Message characteristics.

Outcomes of word of mouth

1. Affective reactions include a heightened

emotional state of the receiver and enthusiasm, confidence and optimism.

2. Cognitive responses include greater brand awareness, higher expectations about the product and better retrieval from memory and consideration of a brand.

Behavioral responses include product trial and brand switching which have been shown to take place through contagion between consumers.

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