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Word-of-Mouth

To what extent influences Word-of-Mouth, in the field of music, the receiver's purchase intentions?

Word-of-Mouth wisdom:

6.3 Managerial Implications

The race is on for present marketers to understand and build connections with online communities of consumption before more competitors can discover how to relate with them. Internet information access and interactivity are behind a shift occurring right now in the way people think about their purchasing and consumption activities. Just as Japanese automobile manufacturers shifted the automobile market towards fuel-efficiency and reliability in the 1980s, and American automobile manufacturers shifted it back towards safety in the 1990s, so too are massive market instabilities currently underway among information technology industries and companies.

The winners in the Internet will be those with the best understanding of the implications of the medium, including the altered consumer behaviors of members of online communities of consumption. Marketers will realize that online consumers are much more active, social, participative, and activist than they have previously been thought to be. The insights these marketers bring into practice will democratize and open the world of online business. Allthough, many marketers are already trying to communicate with the consumer online but they will have to learn how to form alliances with the powerful communities that are brewing online.

Using the Internet for interpersonal influence between consumers

This thesis has once more stressed the importance that consumers attach to the knowledge and experience of other consumers. It is possible to actually track and monitor interpersonal influence between consumers; and by doing so, to better understand them. The relevant traditional reference groups formed by family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, etc..., function out of sight of marketers. On the Internet are reference groups that can be easily accessed by marketers who may listen in on their conversations.

Thus, the Internet offers marketers the possibility to gain insight in eWOM recommendations in an unobtrusive way and on a continuous basis. Instead of only observing, marketers could also decide to participate in comments on a review, community, or blog. By providing background information, explanations, and showing interest, they may be able to influence and direct the eWOM communication about their products, services, and companies. Marketers could follow an even more proactive strategy and develop online communities as alternatives to existing reference groups (i.e., i-Squad.com; Figure 2.1). Marketers could facilitate these consumers by providing them with an communication platform (i.e., a forum). In turn, marketers can use this platform to their own benefit. Of course, marketers should take an ethical stance when intervening in and developing online communities. Announcing their presence in the community and informing community members about how their contributions might be used is critical in developing an open and honest relationship.

Increasing online influence

Managers of online companies are faced with the challenge of exploiting the individual and community in such a way that revenues are generated. In this respect, online companies (i.e., i-Squad) organize their own communities for a particular artist for which they are hired. Convincing prospective clients of the effectiveness of their efforts can be enhanced when the community is organized in such a way that conditions under which influence on consumer decision-making is likely to occur are optimized. These programs reward their members with points for promoting their favorite artists on the Internet. The more active they are, the more chances they have of winning contests and getting better rewards from an online store by trading in their won points.

This thesis has shown that eWOM's influence on consumer decision-making is determined by several factors that online managers can exert influence upon, i.e., amount of information and the extent of information retrieval.