Chapter 1
Introduction
Viral marketing or also
known as buzz marketing or word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most marketing
communications tools many companies applied because of its effectiveness and
efficiency. Hermawan Kartajaya from Mark Plus Institute named it a ‘Low
Budget High Impact’ marketing communications tool. This Paper will explain
why word of mouth is perceived as efficient and effective. And how
should We relate the AISAS model of Sugiyama & Andree (2011) with word of
mouth?
Chapter 2
Viral Marketing and Word of Mouth
Marketing
The concept of viral
marketing has been discussed in the literature for over 15 years, since Jeffrey
Rayport first introduced the term in 1996
Viral marketing also defined as electronic word-of-mouth
whereby some form of marketing message related to a company, brand, or product
is transmitted in an exponentially growing way–often through the use of
social media applications
In many kinds of literature, the terminology of viral marketing, word-of-mouth, and buzz marketing replace each other. However, viral marketing is a step further
than word-of-mouth. I can say it is as empowered as word-of-mouth with the use of a communication
network. In the new era of media, social media applications pushed
word-of-mouth into Viral Marketing. This relationship is described by
Picture 2.1
Picture: The Relationship between Word-of-mouth and Viral
Marketing
Source:
For simplification of the discussion then I would assume the terminology of
the two can replace each other. I'm going to use the term word-of-mouth marketing for further discussion in this paper. The use of word of mouth itself is the nature of viral marketing. How viral marketing works is
with a word-of-mouth medium. And social communication network is as leverage
that makes it a viral force.
Chapter 3
Word-of-Mouth: Definition, Characteristic
Word-of-mouth is defined as
oral, person-to-person communication between a receiver and a communicator whom
the receiver perceives as non-commercial, regarding a brand, product, or service
- Product involvement (33%). The product
is good.
- Self-involvement
(24%). Sharing knowledge and opinion to get attention.
- Other-involvement
(20%). People love to express fraternity, attention, and
friendship.
- Message involvement (20%). People love to share and get various information
To encourage individuals spread the message some criteria will encourage the effective word-of-mouth process.
Picture
3.1
Picture:
The Role of Word-of-Mouth
Source:
Chapter
4
Word-of-Mouth: An Effective and Efficient Communication tools in Integrated Marketing Communication Perspective
In the Integrated marketing communication perspective, word-of-mouth is one of the IMC
audience contact tools (where the marketer/product can contact to the target
audience).
Picture
4.1
Picture:
IMC Audience ContactsSource:
1. Company-created touch points
are planned marketing communication messages created by the company such as
advertisements, websites and social media sites, news/press releases,
packaging, brochures and collateral material, sale promotions, and
point-of-purchase displays along with other types of in-store décor.
Company-created touch points account for a large part of an IMC program and
have the advantage of being under the control of the marketer
2. Intrinsic touch points
are interactions that occur with a company or brand during the process of
buying or using the product or service such as discussions with retail sales
personnel or customer service representatives.
3. Unexpected touch points
are unanticipated references or information about a company or brand that a
customer or prospect receives that is beyond the control of the organization.
Probably the most influential type of unexpected contact is a word-of-mouth
message which refers to personal communication that comes
from friends, associates, neighbors, co-workers, or family members. Unexpected
messages may also come from other sources such as the media which may print or
broadcast stories about a company and/or its brands, as well as experts who
write about products and services. Another type of unexpected touch point that
has become very influential is websites that provide reviews of products and
services. Some of these sites provide expert reviews while others give reviews
from other customers
4. Customer-initiated touch points
are interactions that occur whenever a customer or prospect contacts a company.
Most of these contacts involve inquiries or complaints consumers might have
regarding the use of a product or service and occur through calls made directly
to the company, via e-mails, or through specific sections of websites to which
customers are directed.
Word-of-Mouth is perceived as the most effective marketing
communication
Every touch point has its own characteristic and not all
touch point are equally effective (give the same level of impact to the target
audience) also not all touch point is equal in regard to a company’s
ability to control or influence them. Unexpected touch points can give
the highest impact on the target audience but on the other hand, it is most difficult to control by the company or
marketer. Control is entirely in the market not on the part of the marketer or
the company.
Picture 4.2
Word-of-Mouth is an unexpected touch point. Therefore,
the impact is higher than other touch points. Research
generally supports the claim that WOM is more influential on behavior than
other marketer-controlled sources
Word-of-mouth marketing messages can better convince individuals to take a
stand against the product. The factor that strengthens the influence of WOM is perceived
credibility from influencers. Perceived
credibility itself is helped by 3 factors, namely authority & Trustee,
Profiles, and Social validation (Jessen & Jorgensen,
2011). Meanwhile, Fogg and Tseng
argue that from the dozen or more elements that contribute to credibility
evaluation, there are just two key dimensions of credibility: trustworthiness
and expertise
Picture
4.3
Picture
and source: Perceived Credibility by
In addition, individuals tend to gain social influence
from the environment in making decisions. Word-of-mouth effectively
influences individual so they have a certain attitude towards the product. We can
understand it by understanding how the word of mouth is worked. The model of
WOM is developed by
Intrapersonal
variables: these are states or processes which are associated
either with seeking input WOM or precipitating output WOM.
Extra
personal variables: these are contextual conditions which
influence the seeking of input WOM or the production of output WOM.
Picture 4.4
Picture:
Word-of-mouth Model
Source:
Word-of-Mouth perceived as an efficient communication tools
The
various types of customer touch points also can be categorized as Paid,
Owned, and Earned. According to
· Paid
media, refers to channels a marketer pays to leverage and
includes traditional advertising media such as television, radio, print,
outdoor, and direct mail as well as various forms of digital advertising such
as paid search and online display and video ads.
· Owned
media refers to channels of marketing communication that a
company controls, such as its websites, blogs, and mobile apps as well as
social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
· Earned
media, is exposure for a company or brand that it did not
have to pay for and is generated by outside entities such as the media or the
public. Earned
media has traditionally been viewed as exposure for a company or brand
generated by its public relations/ publicity efforts or through favorable word
of mouth. However, with the growth of digital and social media, earned media
exposure is taking place online through social media and as a result of the
viral marketing efforts of marketers which focus on getting consumers, as well
as the media, to share information about their company and/or brands. This can
occur through tweets and re-tweets on Twitter, social media posts on Facebook
or Instagram, product reviews, blogs, video sharing, and discussions within
online communities
Company
use these three-customer touch point combination in integrated marketing
communication. The kind of media is in
each customer touch points then can be categorized on the below figure:
Picture 4.5
Picture:
Customer touch points Paid, Owned and Earned
Source:
Word of Mouth is the one
of the earned customer touch points. The customers or media become the independent
channel. That’s why in term of control this channel is the most difficult to
control but in give the highest impact. This is the free cost channel because
“market worked” voluntarily to spread our marketing message based on any kind
of drive or motives. (see previous chapter the driver of WOM)
Chapter
5
Word-of-Mouth and AISAS Model
The
AISAS is one of the models which describe the Consumer Decision Making or Consumer
Behavior model that explain how the processes when individuals or groups
select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, service, ideas, or experiences
to satisfy needs and desires
Consumer behavior depicted in this model has the role of conveying information or sharing the message of their attitude toward the product to others. The process of sharing information can even occur at the emotional stage when individuals are emotionally involved. (interest-search-Action). In this stage when individuals are emotionally engaged (as described in the model in the emotion stage) in a product whether it is positive or negative, they will tend to convey their experience to others, and it can influence others in acting toward the product. This is where the dissemination of information through word-of-mouth happened that will give an impact on the product far exceeds the impact obtained from other customer touch points.
Picture
5.1
Picture:
AISAS Model
Source:
The behavioral patterns depicted in the AISAS model are particularly
relevant to current conditions when the new media era has replaced the nature
of the conventional media era which tends to be slow, limited, and one-way. In
the age of digital media, everyone can be a source of news even from consumption
behaviors that can have an influence on their environment through the spread of
information that is increasingly widespread, fast, and unlimited. In
particular, the exponential growth factor lies in the power of digitized social
networks such as social media.
Companies and marketers urgently need to understand consumer behavior
patterns as described in the AISAS model so as to determine the right marketing
communication strategy at each stage of the consumer behavior process that is
passed in addition answering what is the needs of consumers in each
stage can also encourage consumers to do word-of-mouth (share) that is positive
for brands.
Chapter
6
Word
of Mouth: A case study in Indonesia
In
this chapter, I want to give some examples of word-of-mouth case studies in
Indonesia.
1.
April Mop-Go Date by Gojek.
In
2016 Gojek created the Go Date application that invited considerable public
reaction because the application offered is quite creative, unique and can be
categorized as controversial especially if it is associated with social ethics.
Picture 6.1
Picture:
GoDate by Gojek- April Mop
Source:
YouTube
Of
course, this service is not really in the Gojek app. This is part of Gojek's
strategy of capitalizing on April fools' day momentum. Godate's campaign was
communicated through various social media channels. The campaign went viral in
2016.
2. Product
Review in Social Media: YouTube (Gadget Review, Beauty Vlogger)
High penetration in internet
usage in Indonesia and high penetration of social media usage among the
internet user encourage user-generated content which is focused on product
reviews (in many categories). The user-generated content acts as the influencer for
society (at least for their follower or their content viewer)
Picture
6.2
Picture: Beauty Vlogger-Product Review for Beauty Product and Gadget Product Review
Source: YouTube
3.
Endorsement via Instagram (endorse
Marketing)
Word-of-mouth
also can be delivered through endorse marketing. This strategy involves
celebrities making conversation about the product, Celebrities act as influencers who share their experience with the product with their follower or viewer.
The example below is Buavita product and Hydro Coco which is endorsed by Sigi
Wimala and Deny Sumargo.
Picture 6.3
Picture: Endorse Marketing (Buavita and Hydro Coco)
Source: Instagram
Chapter 7
Concussion
Word-of-mouth is one of the customer touches points (unexpected
touch point and earned customer touch point) that has a high impact
and on the other hand is most difficult to control by the marketer or company
because it is fully controlled by customers and media channels. WOM effectiveness
and high efficiency on the other hand have the greatest risk because the
ability of marketers and companies to control this is very low. It can be
contra productive if word of mouth occurs in negative marketing messages (as
the consequence that consumers tend to share their experiences with others—as
described in the AISAS model). Companies or marketers rely heavily on
word-of-mouth effective marketing. For that marketers need to understand the
things that drive the occurrence of word of mouth and apply it in their communication
strategy (be interesting, make people happy, earn trust and respect and make it
easy for everyone to spread our marketing message).
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