word-of-mouth communication in the service marketplace

7/22/2019 Word-Of-mouth Communication in the Service Marketplace

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Word-of-mouth communication in the

service marketplace

The Authors

W. Glynn Mangold,Professor of Marketing, Department of Management & Marketing,

College of Business & Public Administration, Murray State University, Murray, entucky,

USA

Fred Miller,Professor of Marketing, Department of Management & Marketing, College of

Business & Public Administration, Murray State University, Murray, entucky, USA

Gary R. rock!ay, C!airman and Professor of Marketing, Department of Management &

Marketing, College of Business & Public Administration, Murray State University,

Murray, entucky, USA

A"stract

Word-of-mouth communication (WOM) is a dominant force in the marketplace for services.

However, the current body of research provides little insiht into the nature of WOM in the

service marketplace. !eports the results of a content-analytic study that provides insiht into

WOM"s content and the catalysts by which it is stimulated. #he oal was to capture a series of

$rounded events% from which broader patterns could be discerned. #hese rounded events

were actual incidents of WOM as described by the recipients of a communication. #hree

content cateories and ten catalyst cateories are identified. &mplications for manaers areaddressed.

Article Type#

!esearch paper

$ey!ord%s

'ommunications 'onsumer behaviour 'ustomer satisfaction &nterpersonal

communications ervices marketin.

'ournal#

*O+! O/ 0!1&'0 M!20#&3

(olume#

45

)um"er#

4


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*ear#

4666

pp#

75-86

+opyright

M'9 +: td

)#

;887-

!esearch indicates that word-of-mouth communication (WOM) has a sinificant effect on

consumer purchasin behavior. One study conducted by the + Office of 'onsumer ffairs

indicated that, on averae, one dissatisfied customer can be e?pected to tell nine other people

about the e?periences that resulted in the dissatisfaction. atisfied customers, on the other

hand, relate their story to an averae of five other people (2nauer, 466@). uch

communication e?erts a stron influence on consumer purchasin behavior, influencin both

short-term and lon-term Audments (9one, 466> 9urBynski and 9ayer, 4677 Herret al.,

4664). #his influence appears to be particularly sinificant when the communication is

consistent with the individual"s feelins toward the product under consideration (Wilson and

:eterson, 4686).

WOM seems particularly important to the marketin of services. 'onsumers have been found

to rely on WOM to reduce the level of perceived risk and the uncertainty that are often

associated with service purchase decisions (Murray, 4664). 'ompared to purchasers of oods,

Murray (4664) found that service purchasers have reater confidence in personal sources of

information as well as a reater prepurchase preference for personal information sources. He

also found that personal sources have a reater influence on purchasers of services than on

purchasers of products.

#he purpose of this research is to provide insiht into the nature of WOM as it relates to the

service marketplace. What situational circumstances and motivations stimulate WOMC /or

e?ample, is WOM freDuently stimulated by hih levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction withprevious service encountersC 'an eneraliBations be drawn about the content of WOMC /or

e?ample, is the price of the service freDuently discussed amon WOM participantsC

+onceptual "ackground

substantial body of research indicates that interpersonal communication has a sinificant

impact on consumer purchasin behavior. 0arly studies attributed this impact to normative

social influence (sch, 46>5 tafford, 46


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ne?t, provides further rationale for the sinificant influence that WOM is believed to have on

purchasin behavior.

Accessibility"diagnosticity model

ccordin to the accessibility-dianosticity model, the influence of a particular piece ofinformation will depend on the accessibility (from memory) of that piece of information, the

accessibility of alternative pieces of information, the dianosticity of the piece of information,

and the dianosticity of the alternative pieces of information (/eldman and ynch, 4688

ynchet al., 4688). Eianosticity refers to the deree to which information helps consumers

to cateoriBe products (i.e. hih Duality vs. low Duality).

!esearch conducted by Herr et al.(4664) supports the idea that WOM is accessible. #hey

found that WOM had a reater impact on product Audments than printed information.

/avorable brand attitudes were formed on the basis of a sinle, favorable WOM

communication, even when e?tensive, dianostic attribute information was also available. #he

authors suest that the impact of WOM on product Audments is attributable to its vividness,as opposed to pallidness, as a form of communication. 1ividness refers to the deree to which

information is $(a) emotionally interestin, (b) concrete and imaery-provokin, and (c)

pro?imate in a sensory, temporal, or spatial way% (isbett and !oss, 468;, p. =>). 1ivid

communication media are believed to attract attention to the information, hold attention, and

increase the information"s accessibility from memory and its impact on consumer Audment

(Herret al., 4664 isbett and !oss, 468;).

WOM can be considered to be dianostic in nature $to the deree that consumers believe that

the decision implied by that input alone would accomplish their decision oals (e.. ma?imiBe

utility, choose a Austifiable alternative, and so on)% (ynchet al., 4688). #his suests that

WOM may be more dianostic in nature than nonpersonal sources of information such as

media advertisin. #he effects of WOM appear to be reduced, however, when more

dianostic pieces of information, such as prior impressions, are available or when e?tremely

neative attribute information is available (Herret al., 4664). Other factors that underlie

WOM are discussed ne?t.

Underlying factors

0vidence indicates that WOM is often related to consumers" satisfaction or dissatisfaction

with previous purchasin e?periences (9lodettet al., 4665 9rown and 9eltramini, 4686

!ichins, 4685 Wilson and :eterson, 4686). 'onsumers also appear to enae in WOM tosatisfy their personal information needs (9lochet al., 468


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consumers who blame the dissatisfaction on the marketin institutions, rather than themselves

or their own behavior, were more likely to enae in neative WOM.

#hese findins are consistent with 9lodettet al.(4665) who indicated that consumers"

tendency to enae in neative WOM was larely dependent on their perception of Austice as

it related to the complaint. #hat is, consumers were less likely to enae in neative WOM ifthey felt that the procedures for complainin and the provider"s response (i.e. outcome) were

fair and if they had positive feelins about the manner in which they were treated. Other

factors that appear to be correlated with consumers" tendency to enae in neative WOM

include the level of inconvenience that resulted from the problem, the e?tent to which the

customer perceived that the problem was under manaement"s control, and manaement"s

perceived responsiveness to the customer"s problem (9rown and 9eltramini, 4686).

#he e?ploratory research described ne?t provides additional insiht into WOM"s content and

the human motivations and situational circumstances that stimulate WOM.

Methodology

#he oal of this research was to capture a series of $rounded events% from which broader

patterns could be discerned (Eeshpande, 4685 3laser and trauss, 46) in her study of customer switchin behavior. Fuestionnaires were distributed to 44@

Aunior and senior-level underraduate students enrolled in a collee of business at a university

located in the outheastern portion of the +. 0ach student was asked to complete one

Duestionnaire based on their own WOM e?periences. #hey were also asked to distribute

Duestionnaires to two acDuaintances who were over the ae of @> and reDuest that they

complete them. dditional Duestionnaires were distributed to a roup of ten raduate students,

all of whom were workin full-time and enrolled in an off-campus niht class at the same

university. 0ach raduate student was asked to complete one Duestionnaire and distribute four

other Duestionnaires to acDuaintances who were over the ae of @>. #hus, thouh students

were used to collect the sample, only @6 percent of the resultin pool of respondents were

students.

!espondents were first asked to indicate which of 77 services they had purchased durin the

previous si?-month period. #he 77 services listed were drawn from the Standard Industrial

ClassificationManual(Office of Manaement and 9udet, 4687). #he purpose of this

Duestion was to stimulate subAects" thinkin and help subAects to focus on a limited array of

services.

#he si?-month time frame was selected to provide adeDuate time for respondents to have

made multiple service purchases. Get, respondents were able to remember the details of the

communication surroundin the purchase. #he si?-month time frame is consistent with 9itner

et al. (466=) who asked respondents to report events from the recent past and defined thattime period as si? to 4@ months.


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!espondents were then asked to think about the last time someone told them somethin

positive about a service that they may have had an interest in purchasin. #hen, they were

asked to think about the last time someone told them somethin neative about a service that

they may have had an interest in purchasin. #hus, each respondent reported on two WOM

communication incidents, one positive and the other neative. &n reard to each event,

respondents were asked (i) what service they were thinkin about, (ii) how lon ao thecommunication had occurred, (iii) what was said, (iv) respondents" relationship with the

person to whom they were speakin, (v) how the particular WOM came about, (vi) whether

the WOM was part of a broader conversation and, if so, (vii) how that broader conversation

came about. Open-ended response formats were used for each Duestion. skin for the most

recent observation in each communication cateory (positive and neative) prevented

respondents from describin only the most emotion-laden events. !espondents were also

more likely to have an accurate recollection of the most recent event.

#he interity of the data was insured throuh the use of follow-up telephone interviews. One

respondent was chosen arbitrarily from each set of three (five for the M9 students) and

contacted by telephone to verify that they had personally answered the Duestionnaire. detailed e?amination of the Duestionnaires was undertaken when telephone contact could not

be established after several tries. #hese Duestionnaires had to meet three criteria to remain in

the sample

the handwritin had to be different for each Duestionnaire, indicatin that the student

had not fabricated the other responses

the communication had to convey full and precise details, another indicator of

authenticity and

the communication had to have face validity (i.e. seem reasonable).

#he stimulants of WOM were e?amined throuh the use of critical incident techniDue. 'ritical

incident techniDue is a content analytic research method that enables researchers to classify

open-ended research responses into meaninful cateories, thereby reducin broad-based

answers into more relevant, manaeable bits of information (Weber, 468>, p. >). /or the

purposes of our research, critical incidents were defined as any event or events that led the

subAect to communicate via the spoken word, either positively or neatively, reardin a iven

service.

'ontent analysis was also used to e?amine the substance of the WOM itself. &n this case, the

analysis focused on the substance of the communication rather than the critical incidents that

led to the communication.

+ategory development, assessment of sample si/e, and assessment of content validity

and relia"ility

#he data collection process resulted in a total of =;@ critical incidents. ome of these

responses were unusable and were, therefore, eliminated from the study. everal of the

responses were eliminated because the respondents had inadvertently based their answers on

communication that related to a product rather than a service. ome were eliminated because

the individual with whom the communication occurred was a salesperson or other employee

who was workin for the provider of the service. Other responses were discarded because the

answers were Auded to be too vaue while still others were discarded as a result of thesample validation procedure described previously. fter the elimination of the unusable


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responses, 545 responses remained for the e?amination of WOM"s contents. 9ecause 46 of

the usable responses did not contain stimulus-related information, @6= responses remained for

the e?amination of WOM"s stimulants.

#he critical incidents were subdivided into a classification sample and a holdout sample

consistin of 4;; responses. #he classification sample consisted of 46= cases for the testin ofWOM"s stimulants and @45 cases for the testin of its contents. #he identification and

classification of stimulants was based primarily on the open-ended Duestion in which

respondents were asked to $Iplease indicate, as specifically as possible, how this particular

word-of-mouth communication came about (i.e. what stimulated the conversation).% #he

identification and classification of contents were based primarily on the Duestion, $:lease

indicate, as precisely as possible, what you were told.%

#he analysis of WOM"s stimulants resulted in the identification of ten mutually e?clusive and

e?haustive cateories from the classification sample. (While the cateories were mutually

e?clusive and e?haustive, some responses contained elements of two or more cateories. &n

these cases, the researcher"s task was to determine the primary stimulus.) #he incidents in theholdout sample were then added to the analysis. o additional cateories emered as a result

of the addition of these 4;; incidents.

#he analysis of WOM"s contents resulted in the identification of three mutually e?clusive and

e?haustive cateories from the classification sample (#able &&). ain, no additional

cateories emered when the 4;; cases in the holdout sample were added to the data set.

#hese results indicate that the sample siBe was adeDuate for the testin of both WOM"s

stimulants and its contents. ccordin to /lanaan (46>=, p. 5=5), $/or most purposes, it can

be considered that adeDuate coverae has been achieved when the addition of 4;; critical

incidents to the sample adds only two or three critical behaviors.% #he emerence of no

additional cateories after the addition of 4;; new cases also provides stron evidence of

satisfactory content validity (/lanaan, 46>= 2eaveney, 466> !onan and atham, 467=).

second Aude was asked to sort the incidents into the cateories and subcateories provided

by the first Aude and to create new cateories, if appropriate. #he level of initial interAude

areement under this procedure was 8> percent for WOM"s stimulants and 6= percent for its

content. While there is no accepted standard for evaluatin the reliability of such nominally

coded data (:erreault and eih, 4686), similar levels of areement have enerally been

considered an indication of satisfactory reproducibility (9itner et al., 466; 2eaveney, 466>).

#he two Audes then re-e?amined the responses on which they disareed. #his re-e?aminationprocedure eventually resulted in an interAude areement level of 4;; percent for both

WOM"s stimulants and its content. #hese classifications then became the benchmarks aainst

which the third Aude"s classifications were compared.

#he third Aude"s cateoriBation, compared to the benchmark, resulted in an interAude

areement of [email protected] percent for WOM"s stimulants and 6;.8 percent for its content. /ollowin

the procedure used for the second cateoriBation, the three Audes re-e?amined the responses

on which they disareed. ain, the re-e?amination procedure eventually resulted in an

interAude areement level of 4;; percent for both WOM"s stimulants and its content.
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Results

#he survey respondents came from a relatively broad cross-section of the population. Of the

respondents, 56 percent were @> years of ae or less, @6 percent were between @< and =;

years of ae, and 5@ percent were =4 years of ae or over. /ifty-eiht percent of the

respondents were female and =@ percent were male. 'aucasians were heavily represented with65 percent of the respondents fallin in that ethnic cateory. Over 5> percent of the

respondents had a collee deree or hiher while another >; percent had at least some collee

education althouh they were not collee raduates. &n terms of marital status, =8 percent of

the respondents were married, =7 percent were sinle, and the rest were divorced, separated,

or widowed. #wenty-nine percent of the respondents were students and 48 percent were

professional or technical workers. Other occupations represented by the survey respondents

were business owner (=.; percent) farm manaer (@.8 percent) other e?ecutive or manaer

(>.7 percent) sales clerk or clerical worker (8.> percent) sales representative (;.< percent)

craftsworker, foreman, or machine operator (@.5 percent) laborer, service worker, or farm

worker (=.> percent) homemaker (=.> percent) retired (@.8 percent) unemployed (4.7

percent) and other (4>.5 percent).

#he survey responses focussed on a broad rane of services with a total of 7@ different service

industries represented. #hese service industries included such traditional services as banks,

hospitals, telecommunications services, barbers and hairdressers, home repair services, and

automobile repair shops. few of the responses also focussed on less traditional services such

as tannin salons and body piercin.

nalysis of the open-ended Duestions revealed ten cateories of stimuli that led to WOM

(#able &). #he receiver"s (of the communication) felt need was the most freDuently identified

WOM stimulus with >;.5 percent of the stimuli fallin into this cateory. /or e?ample, one

receiver asked specifically if the communicator knew of a ood travel aency that would help

him plan his honeymoon. nother conversation occurred Aust before pril 4> and focussed on

an individual"s need to find a ta? preparation service.

'oincidental WOM was the second most freDuently identified cateory with 48.= percent of

the stimuli. /or e?ample, one discussion that was classified as coincidental in nature bean

with a conversation amon co-workers and relatives about prenancies and babies. #his

discussion led to the transfer of neative information about a particular medical doctor.

nother coincidental communication bean with a eneral discussion of plans for the

weekend. #his conversation led to favorable comments about the Duality of a particular

restaurant and to a recommendation that the respondent eat there.

WOM that was stimulated by the communicator"s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the

service was the third most freDuently identified cateory with 8.8 percent of the responses.

/or e?ample, one positive WOM occurred when a communicator shared her pleasure with the

Duality of pictures received from a particular photoraphy studio. neative communication

occurred after a communicator failed to have his automobile transmission satisfactorily

repaired even thouh he returned it to the repair shop on two different occasions.

omeone"s observance of the purchase or its outcome served as a stimulant to WOM

communication in percent of the cases. /or e?ample, a positive communication about a

tannin salon bean with a compliment about the communicator"s suntan. imilarly, a
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neative communication bean when the receiver commented on the communicator"s new

hair style.

&nterestinly,


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to find titles, receive lists of similar titles, have access to reviews, authors", publishers" and

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1irtual 1ineyards provides recommendations, information, and reviews of its wines. &tsofferins include products of smaller producers or limited vintae that can be difficult to find

in all but the most e?tensive wine shops. #hey offer food products as well, in addition to

collectors" and ift sets of food and wine. upplementin the value of their products are

collections of menus and recipes, complete with wine recommendations.

ome of the services offered by maBon.com and 1irtual 1ineyards are electronic substitutes

for the services offered by traditional retailers while other services are not readily available in

traditional outlets. Other service marketers can emulate these &nternet marketin strateies by

usin additional, supplemental, and free information to enhance the value of their offerins.

Coincidental conversation

'oincidental conversation was the second most freDuent stimulus of WOM communication in

the study, accountin for 48 percent of incidents. #his may also be the most difficult stimulus

to influence, in that service-related communication arises from eneral conversation rather

than specific discussion of the service. Marketin strateies directed at strenthenin ties

amon customers and potential customers may enable service marketers to take advantae of

this aspect of WOM (!einen and 2ernan, 468). /or e?ample, Macaroni 3rill restaurants

feature a festive atmosphere, e?troverted servers who use crayons to write their names on

paper tablecloths, and lare Aus of wine at each table. uch uniDueness may stimulate

customers to tell others about their consumption e?perience.


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Communicator$s satisfaction or dissatisfaction

bout 6 percent of the WOM incidents in the study were stimulated by the communicator"s

satisfaction or dissatisfaction. inificantly, these incidents were more than twice as likely to

include neative, rather than positive, content. #hus, communicator-initiated WOM appears

more likely to be enerated by dissatisfaction than by satisfaction. #hese results are consistentwith !ichins (4685) and 9lodett et al.(4665) who have documented that inadeDuate redress

of rievances often leads customers to enae in neative WOM communication. On the

other hand, creatin hih levels of service Duality should lead to customer satisfaction and

stimulate positive WOM (9one, 466@).

#herefore, service marketers are presented with the double challene of stimulatin satisfied

customers" communication while limitin the impact of dissatisfied customers. 'learly, the

first step in this process is to offer service that is of hih Duality. #hen, service marketers

should insure that a viorous, responsive system for addressin customer complaints is in

place before enain in efforts to stimulate WOM.

Havin minimiBed the incidence and motivation for neative WOM, service marketers may

stimulate positive WOM by puttin prospective customers in contact with satisfied customers.

9anks have successfully stimulated interaction between current and prospective clients by

providin social activities for affluent senior citiBens, risin professionals, or people startin

new businesses. imilarly, securities firms have sponsored investment clubs for members

with similar financial obAectives and health care oraniBations have formed support roups for

patients facin common health problems or underoin similar treatment procedures. /irms

may also stimulate positive WOM from satisfied customers by creatin positive incentives for

referrals. Eiscounted services andKor referral fees are common tools for achievin this end.

/ileet al.(466=) also suest that marketers may use seminar sellin with both current clients

and potential clients in attendance.

/inally, it is important to note the dominant role of receivers in initiatin WOM

communication incidents. &n this study, WOM was far more likely to be initiated by receivers"

need for information than by communicators" satisfaction level. #his implies that, in the effort

to e?ploit service-related WOM communication, providers should focus much of their

attention on interceptin prospects" information seekin behavior rather than relyin primarily

on testimonials from satisfied customers. /or e?ample, *ewish Hospital of ouisville,

2entucky provides customers with a broad array of information and services throuh health

information centers that are strateically located in reional shoppin malls. /or e?ample,

consumers with hih blood pressure may be iven information about a $heart healthy% diet(Waner et al., 466=).

Someone$s observance of t!e purc!ase or its outcome

ome of the WOM in our study was stimulated by someone"s observance of the purchase or

its outcome ( percent) while other WOM was stimulated by an observance of the need for a

service (@.= percent). till other WOM was stimulated by the receiver"s satisfaction or

dissatisfaction (@.7 percent). ll three of these observations suest that service marketers

may develop strateies for rewardin people for referrals. #he techniDues for motivatin

referrals discussed earlier are relevant for these situations as well. &n addition, these incidents

illustrate the need to identify vividly the oraniBation with the completed service. &f possible,someone observin the benefits of a service purchase should be made aware of the identity of


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the service provider. #he most obvious e?amples here are lawn sins for construction or

landscapin services or windshield shades for car repair or beautification shops. Other

instances miht include complimentary caps or #-shirts for those participatin in a clinic"s

wellness seminar, a tannin service"s basic packae, or a hotel"s freDuent uest club.

%o or more people collectively trying to select a service

Our research also suests that WOM may be stimulated when two or more people are

collectively tryin to select a service. Marketers may take advantae of this aspect of WOM

by aimin their promotion efforts at roups of people as well as individuals. #his observation

appears to be particularly relevant for restaurants since roups of people often make Aoint

decisions about where to eat. /or e?ample, restaurants miht offer discounts or

complimentary items to roups of four people from the same oraniBation at lunch time.

imilarly, discounts may be offered for special occasion parties or to roups of four or more

who have attended a local cultural or civic event durin the dinner period. lternatively,

business lunch clubs, in which members receive discounts for brinin business

acDuaintances for lunch, miht prove attractive. !estaurants miht also stamp freDuent uests"business cards with a discount offer that could be used by the uest or passed on to friends

andKor colleaues. #he oal of all these approaches is to have the sponsorin restaurant

included in roup discussions and decision processes concernin restaurant selection.

Marketing organi'ation$s promotional efforts

Only a small percentae of the WOM in our study was stimulated by the marketin

oraniBation"s promotional efforts. Moreover, the maAority of incidents triered by this

stimulus involved neative communication content. #his suests that service marketers may

need to establish the stimulation of WOM as a promotional obAective and, then, strateically

desin their promotions to accomplish this obAective. /or e?ample, M'& has successfully

stimulated WOM as well as referrals throuh its $/riends and /amily% proram.

lternatively, service marketers miht reassess their promotional obAectives relative to WOM

communication. #hat is, promotional effectiveness may be measured in terms of both the

number of WOM incidents enerated and the content of the communication. o matter the

stimulus which prompts a WOM incident, if the content of the communication is consistent

with the content of promotional material, the promotional effort may be deemed successful.

&ndeed, this miht be the more desirable result, as the role of communicator has now passed

from the less credible marketer to the more credible personal source of information.

(uality"oriented )*M

s indicated in#able &&, most of the WOM e?amined in our study focussed on Duality only.

WOM containin elements of both Duality and price was classified as value-oriented and

constituted the second larest cateory. relatively small portion of the WOM e?amined

focussed on price only.

ince


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it can meet or e?ceed these e?pectations on a reular basis. &f at all possible, Duality

uarantees should then be made in very clear lanuae, with very clear remedies for

deficiencies. n e?ample is Holiday &nn"s $complete satisfaction or your stay is free%

philosophy. imilarly, a restaurant miht offer ten-minute service for lunch, with free

appetiBers or desserts for loner waits. utomobile repair shops miht offer loaners or rides to

home or work for customers whose cars are not finished in one day. 9anks miht offer freelunches or tickets to athletic or cultural events to customers whose loan applications are not

processed in a specified period.

'learly, uarantees such as these are not possible in every service profession. :hysicians

cannot uarantee favorable response to treatment, nor can stockbrokers uarantee profitable

investments. However, these providers miht well be able to make process uarantees. /or

e?ample, physicians can uarantee office waits of no more than 5; minutes for patients with

appointments while stockbrokers may uarantee that trades will be e?ecuted within 5;

minutes. Eeviations from these promises may be rewarded with complimentary health-related

products or discounted commission rates.

#he offerin of such uarantees has several advantaes. /irst, it reDuires service providers to

consciously understand their capabilities relative to consumer e?pectations. econd, it

provides performance oals for the providers" employees and concrete benchmarks for

customers. #hird, and most relevant to this study, it provides concrete, memorable content for

measurin the value of service provided. #his, in turn, would set the conte?t for WOM

communication relative to the service oraniBation.

Price" and value"oriented )*M

number of other strateies are available to service marketers who wish to stimulate price-

and value-oriented WOM, particularly those who are low-price or hih-value providers in

their markets. 'ommunication obAectives for low-price providers may center on the provision

of price information throuh media advertisin, point-of-purchase material, and sales

promotion. #o attract value-oriented consumers, providers miht offer priceKvalue ladders,

which tie the price paid directly to the level of service desired. /or e?ample, meritrade

(www.ameritrade.com) is a discount brokerae firm which chares different commissions for

orders placed online, electronically with a touch tone phone, or throuh a live phone call with

a broker. 'lients select their price by determinin which level of service they desire.

0imitations and directions for future research

#his research is subAect to several limitations. /irst, althouh the survey respondents

represented a relatively broad cross-section of the population, they were either students or the

acDuaintances of students. While the data collection method was consistent with previous

content-analytic research (2eaveney, 466>), there is no uarantee that the entire rane of

WOM was included in the study. #he elimination of appro?imately one-fourth of the survey

responses may have e?acerbated this limitation. /uture research may verify the

comprehensiveness of the data and the eneraliBability of the results.

econd, the research desin reDuested that respondents describe the last communication that

occurred. #his desin resulted in a description of the $last-remembered% communication

rather than the last communication that actually occurred. #his limitation is problematic if thecontent of more memorable communications is different from the content of less memorable


14/21

communications. #herefore, future research may utiliBe an e?perimental desin or other

research procedure to isolate the last communication that occurred rather than the $last

remembered% communication.

#he relative impact of positive versus neative communication on buyer behavior constitutes

still another avenue for future study. Much of the previous research pertainin to WOM in themarketplace has focussed on neative WOM and its influence on buyer behavior while less

emphasis has been iven to positive WOM. Our study made no attempt to delineate the

relative impact of positive or neative WOM on purchase behavior.

/inally, future research may focus on the interation of WOM into a more comprehensive

model of service purchasin behavior. uch a model would address the interrelationship

between WOM and such variables as satisfaction, output WOM (i.e. what the purchaser tells

someone else), intent to repurchase, perceived value, perceived Duality, perceived

performance, and initial purchase behavior.

12ecutive summary and implications for managers and e2ecutives

preadin the word - a key part of service communications stratey

Buying things is not something we do in isolation from those around us - family, friends,

workmates and neighbors. Shopping is a social experience and an important part of our lifes

acti!ity. So its no surprise that we share our experiences - good and bad - with others.

"roducts are adopted as much because of word-of-mouth communications as because of

acti!e promotions by the company making those products.

#espite this reality and managers awareness of word-of-mouth, we still feel somewhat

baffled by the processes in!ol!ed and the ways in which word-of-mouth communications

affect our business. $s a result of this bafflement, we take customers that arri!e on personal

recommendation but do little to encourage them to carry on the tradition of spreading the

word.

%irst, we need to understand why people are affected by and indulge in word-of-mouth

communications. Mangold et al.pro!ide us with some insights into the reasons for the

effecti!eness of word-of-mouth communications&

"eople need information about products and ser!ices. 'his is often the starting point

for (spreading the word). $ friend asks ad!ice about a decent restaurant, a goodplace to stay or for the name of a competent plumber. *e are delighted to be asked

and gi!e wholeheartedly of our ad!ice and expertise. Mangold et al. report that this

information seeking is the dominant stimulus for word-of-mouth communications.

Comments about ser!ices or products arise during casual con!ersation. "eople !ery

often mention experiences in the course of a normal con!ersation. +obody is seeking

specific information with a !iew to purchasing something but the information or

opinion arises - unsolicited - during the con!ersation. i!en the importance of

shopping, people will relate tales describing a good or bad experience.

*hat is clear from these two reasons is that people seldom - if e!er - set about passing on

information about a product or ser!ice without some reason. +obody wakes up and decides to


15/21

tell all their friends what a great place $ls estaurant is Managers who want to take

ad!antage of word-of-mouth communications need to take a more subtle approach.

Suggestions for stimulating our customers to recommend our ser!ice or at least talk about it

might include&

0?hortation.'heres no harm in asking customers who express satisfaction to tell

their friends. 'hey might be more inclined to do so if you ask them and it will surely

do no harm.

&ncentive.Mail order companies and subscription maga/ines ha!e used the

recommend-a-friend incenti!e as an effecti!e way of bringing in new custom. By

offering a gift, discount or other reward to customers who recruit new customers

pro!ides a positi!e benefit to the person (spreading the news). 'here is a limit to the

approach since 0as multi-le!el marketing and pyramid selling ha!e shown1 there is a

fine line between a fair incenti!e and exploiting friendships.

#aretin opinion formers. Certain people get listened to more or simply speak to

more people than most folk. *e can call these (opinion formers) since their influenceis greater because of the breadth of their contacts. "riests, publicans, postmen and the

$!on lady all speak to large numbers of people. 'argeting your message here can

ha!e an effect that exceeds a similar but untargeted approach.

peakin to clubs. 'here are plenty of local organi/ations that need speakers each

and e!ery week. 2ffering yourself as a speaker can result in positi!e and fa!orable

word-of-mouth. 3!en better - offer a discount or other incenti!e to the people you

speak with. +ot only will they be more likely to use you but it creates a further positi!e

spin and encourages the listeners to (spread the word).

ettin up a club. %ound your own club. 4et your customers run it and pro!ide

facilities, ad!ice and other support. 'heyll feel closer to you - almost a part of the

business - and be more inclined to tell their friends. 'he club neednt be too formal

but should ha!e a purpose and someone to lead it.

!unnin a newsletter.+othing too fancy. 5ust a few pages of thoughts, ideas, product

information and customer comment. et customers to contribute with letters, stories

or ideas. 'hese days you can e!en extend the newsletter by setting up a *eb site.

Mangoldet al.gi!e a few examples of how this can succeed in getting people to talk

about your product or ser!ice.

3ivin away freebies.eward your regular customers with some free product or

ser!ice. #ont make this too formal a process, simply take ad!antage of one of their

!isits to thank them by gi!ing a free meal, oil change or whate!er you offer. 6ou can

be sure that they will tell their friends 7ust how good you are and maybe e!enencourage their friends to try you out.

'hese are 7ust a few examples of how to get people talking about what you do. 'here are

hundreds of other ideas inside your head. Sit down. %ish out a few thoughts and try them out.

Most ser!ice organi/ations are part of the community. $ct like you are and you will get the

benefit of others treating you as a friend rather than as a mere business. $nd once youre a

friend people want their other friends to meet you.

( prLcis of the article $Word-of-mouth communication in the service marketplace%. upplied

by Marketin 'onsultants for M'9 +niversity :ress.)


16/21

%able +Catalysts that stimulate word-of-mouth communication

%able ++Categories of word-of-mouth communication

igure -*ord-of-mouth communication process

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x.doi.org/10.2307/1252074http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/manulDocumentRequest.do?hdAction=ref_document_request&r_contentId=0&r_atitle=Customer+switching+behavior+in+service+industries:+an+exploratory+study&r_jtitle=Journal+of+Marketing&r_authors=Keaveney,+S.M.+&r_year=1995&r_volume=59&r_issue=&r_publisher=&r_startpage=71-82&r_issn=&r_endpage=http://www4.infotrieve.com/gateway.asp?action=1&displayID=144476&DocTitle=Customer+switching+behavior+in+service+industries:+an+exploratory+study&JournalBook=Journal+of+Marketing&Volume=59&Issue=http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/manulDocumentRequest.do?hdAction=ref_document_request&r_contentId=0&r_atitle=&r_jtitle=Increasing+Customer+Satisfaction&r_authors=Knauer,+V.+&r_year=1992&r_volume=&r_issue=&r_publisher=United+States+Office+of+Consumer+Affairs&r_startpage=&r_issn=&r_endpage=http://www4.infotrieve.com/gateway.asp?action=1&displayID=144476&DocTitle=&JournalBook=Increasing+Customer+Satisfaction&Volume=&Issue=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209155http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209155http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209155http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/manulDocumentRequest.do?hdAction=ref_document_request&r_contentId=0&r_atitle=Choices+from+sets+including+remembered+brands:+use+of+recalled+attributes+and+prior+overall+evaluations&r_jtitle=Journal+of+Consumer+Research&r_authors=Lynch,+J.G.,+Marmorstein,+H.,+Weigold,+M.F.+&r_year=1988&r_volume=15&r_issue=&r_publisher=&r_startpage=169-84&r_issn=&r_endpage=http://www4.infotrieve.com/gateway.asp?action=1&displayID=144476&DocTitle=Choices+from+sets+including+remembered+brands:+use+of+recalled+attributes+and+prior+overall+evaluations&JournalBook=Journal+of+Consumer+Research&Volume=15&Issue=http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/manulDocumentRequest.do?hdAction=ref_document_request&r_contentId=0&r_atitle=The+impact+of+advertising+on+the+image+of+lawyers+-+an+experiment&r_jtitle=et+al&r_authors=Murdock,+G.W.+&r_year=1981a&r_volume=&r_issue=&r_publisher=The+Changing+Marketing+Environment&r_startpage=&r_issn=&r_endpage=http://www4.infotrieve.com/gateway.asp?action=1&displayID=144476&DocTitle=The+impact+of+advertising+on+the+image+of+lawyers+-+an+experiment&JournalBook=et+al&Volume=&Issue=http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/manulDocumentRequest.do?hdAction=ref_document_request&r_contentId=0&r_atitle=The+identification+of+determinant+attributes+used+by+consumers+of+legal+services&r_jtitle=&r_authors=Murdock,+G.W.+&r_year=1981b&r_volume=&r_issue=&r_publisher=The+Changing+Marketing+Environment&r_startpage=&r_issn=&r_endpage=http://www4.infotrieve.com/gateway.asp?action=1&displayID=144476&DocTitle=The+identification+of+determinant+attributes+used+by+consumers+of+legal+services&JournalBook=&Volume=&Issue=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1252200http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1252200


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word-of-mouth communication in the service marketplace

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