Deciphering word-of-mouth marketing campaign reach: Everyday conversation versus institutionalized word of mouth

Agencies routinely report word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) campaign results in terms of reach but do not deliver insight about the people who are reached and the types of conversation in which the WOM message is embedded. Using a specially designed Facebook app and social-network analysis, the current authors revealed that approximately half of campaign-related conversations are initiated intentionally by campaign participants-individuals who deliberately create opportunities to talk to conversation partners in ways aligned with the campaign sponsor’s commercial objectives. The other half emerge in everyday conversation. Participants also deliver the brand message into about half of the social-network clusters to which they belong. For a higher proportion of network clusters to be activated, everyday conversation should be facilitated.