Research: The power of Word of Mouth

A New  research on Word of Mouth in US shows that Word of mouth is actually very relevant especially  for some particular categories like food and dining , entertainment and shopping

1. Consumers talk about a lot of different categories with food and dining ranking number one.
   
2. WOM is mostly positive. 65% of brand references by WOM are positively biased. Thus brands should not afraid to get involved. People who ask advice about stuff tend to ask what's good about something.
   
3. WOM has impact.
   
• 57% believe what they have heard.
  
• 50% say they will pass on info
  
• 50% say are likely to purchase on the basis of what they have heard
4. WOM is mostly face to face
• 76% of marketing related conversations take place in person and another 16% on the phone.
  
5. Media can play a big role in driving WOM.
• 48% of brand conversations refer to marketing and media
  
• 15% led by TV
  
• 11% led by internet
  
• 10% print.
  
• 20% of all WOM include a reference to advertising.
  
6. When it comes to conversation not all consumers are created equal:

• 10% of the US population are influencers
  
• But influencers account for 1/3 of all WOM
  
• Influencers are more actively engaged; they talk more than other people, creating 1bn WOM impressions, and have 80% more conversations than average and are more likely to have more brand conversations.