Lesson 5: WOM and Social Currency Flashcards
What is WOM
Word of Mouth includes both offline/online WOM
- platforms where electronic word of moth is conveyed, are also called user generated websites.These website include discussion boards, blogs, social networks and other websites that share knowledge on a product or experience online
Why is WOM important?
The things that other tell/email/text us have a significant impact on what we think, read, buy and do. WOM is a primary factor behind our purchasing decisions
WOM vs Advertising
WOM is more persuasive (more likely to trust a friend) and is more targeted (we only share news to people we know and think would find that piece of information relevant.)
What is the best way to generate WOM?
Only 7% happens online!
Face-to-face we are directly engaged
- both online and offline WOM are important
-Online WOM can reach more people
- Offline can be more engaged
How does WOM Marketing work? What are the six principles that get people talking?
Is only effective if people actually talk about it.
Social Currency we want to look good and feel good so we share things that make us look good and interesting
Triggers We need a trigger to remind us to share
Emotion Emotional Messages will get passed on
Public Companies need to make sure that people can see others use the product/services
Practical Value we like helping others, so we pass on useful information
Stories stories create the package that an idea is wrapped in
What is self-sharing (linked to social currency)? Why do we talk so much about our own opinions and experiences?
The desire to share our thoughts, opinions, and experiences is one reason social media and online social networks are so popular
More than 40% of what people talk about is their personal experiences or relationships
More than half of Facebook/Instagram posts are “me” focused, covering what people are doing now or something that has happened to them
Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding, sharing personal opinions activates the same brain circuits that respond to rewards like food and money
What is the looking-glass self concept?
A social psychological concept created by Charles Cooley in 1920
- Our use of how we think or imagine others perceive us as a mirror for perceiving ourselves
- using social interaction as a type of “mirror”, people use the judges they receive from others to measure their own worth, values, and behaviour
What is the definition of social currency?
We do, say and shred things that make us look good to others
What we talk about affects what others think of us
Social currency describes the resources and abilities created and accessible through presence in offline or online networks and communities
How is word of mouth a tool for making a good impression?
Think of it as a kind of currency
Social currency (just as we use money to buy products, we use social currency to achieve desired positive impressions amount our families, friends and colleagues)
Why do people share vs not share posts?
You might not share because you don’t think a post reflect who you are, or might not look good to others. (Doesn’t give your social currency)
You might share because you think it reflects who you are or look good to others. (Those posts give you social currency)
Why do companies need to make social currency?
When we share the right type of content, we gain social currency. We feel better about ourselves when people react positively to what we post.
**Give people a way to make themselves look good while promoting the company’s products and services along the way.
What are the three ways a company can make social currency?
Finding inner remarkability
Leveraging game mechanics
Making people feel like insiders
What does finding inner remark-ability mean?
Unusual, extraordinary, worthy of notice or attention, novel, surprising, extreme.
The most important aspect of remarkable things is that they are worthy of remark, worthy of mention.
Ask yourself: Can the product/service do something no one would have thought possible? Can the product/service break a pattern people have come to expect? Can the company design the products/services that are worthy of notice or attention?
Remarkable things provide social currency because people talk about it. We all want to be liked, the desire for social approval is a fundamental human motivation.
What is leveraging game mechanics?
Involves points, levels, tournaments, good games keep people engaged, motivated, and always wanting more, internally we all enjoy achieving things. Externally, a good game motivates us on an interpersonal level by encouraging social comparison
People don’t just care about how they are doing, they care about their performance in relation to others
Ex. Starbucks rewards
- some people are so focused on achieving something that they lose their common sense. People drank kore coffee than they needed to achieve a gold status.
What are game mechanics?
People love boasting about the things they have accomplished: free upgrade people get to business class. After all, what good is status if no one else know we have it? Every time we proudly share our status, we are also spreading the word about the company.
Many contests also involve game mechanics
- feature your picture on the website
- fitness programs encourage before and after photos
- giving awards works on a similar principle recipients of awards love talking about them
WOM can also come form the voting process itself
- contestants will tell people to vote for them, they spread awareness about the product, brand, or initiative sponsoring the contest
Instead of marketing itself directly, the company uses the contest to get people who want to win to do the marketing themselves.
