Keller Fay and OMD Study Finds Offline Word of Mouth More Positive and Credible than Online Buzz
- Offline Conversation More Likely than Online Talk to Lead to Purchase Intent -

New York, NY, June 25, 2008 — In a first of its kind study comparing word of mouth (WOM) in online and offline venues, the Keller Fay Group (www.kellerfay.com), a market research consultancy specializing in word of mouth, and media agency OMD (www.omd.com) find that offline WOM is more positive and more likely to be judged highly credible than online talk. The findings are part of a paper scheduled to be released today at the ARF Audience Measurement 3.0 conference in New York.

Study results include:

• Word of mouth expressed face to face and by phone is viewed as highly “credible” more often than online talk (59% vs. 49%).
• Offline communication has more purely positive content than online discussion (65% vs. 59%) and is less likely to contain negative or “mixed” content (235 vs. 30%).
• A comparison between face to face communication and content via online blogs and chatrooms reveals an ever wider gap, with 66% of face to face communication “mostly positive” compared to 57% for blogs/chatrooms.
• Offline WOM is more likely than its online counterpart to lead to strong purchase intent (50% vs. 43%).

The findings are significant to marketers who, according to PQ Media, currently spend more than $1 billion annually on word of mouth strategies, and who much decide how to allocate their resources most effectively. At a time when much of the attention in word of mouth is focused on the Internet, the Keller Fay/OMD report points to significant opportunities in the offline world.

One possible explanation for the “credibility gap” between online and offline word of mouth is that online communications often can occur between people who don’t know each other very well. The study examines this possibility, and results suggest that the gap in credibility still exists even in communications between people of the same relationship. Specifically, content from a spouse, relative or best friend is rated more believable when it is shared offline, either by phone or face to face, as opposed to online via email, text messaging or blogs.

“We were most surprised to learn that we evaluate brand-related information from our spouse or best friend as more credible when it is shared face to face or by phone instead of through the Internet,” says Keller Fay COO Brad Fay, a co-author of the study. “Apparently, the value of eye contact, voice and perhaps even non-verbal communication provides a boost to credibility and to the likelihood that we’ll do something about what we’ve learned.”

“In today’s complex marketplace, brands need to find more effective ways to connect with consumers, and this study shows that both online and offline word of mouth are among the most valuable tools available to marketers,” says Sandy Eubank, Director, Business Intelligence at OMD and another co-author of the study.

On average, there are 3.5 billion word of mouth conversations that occur daily in the U.S. Offline WOM accounts for 92% of conversations (75% face to face; 17% by phone), and email, IM/text messaging and chatroom/blogs account for 7%.

While offline communication remains the predominant mode of word of mouth across all age groups (ranging from 80% among the youngest group to 97% among the oldest segment), the results indicate that teens participate in a higher percentage of online WOM (17%) than members of other age groups.  Consumers under 18 are also more likely than others to drive advice giving in online talk.  While only 13% of offline advice givers are ages 13 thru 17, 35% of advice givers in online conversations fall within this age bracket.

Well, it seems the majority of people do.

In a recent study conducted by product review online TV site, ExpoTV, it was found that, yes, some people do actually want to “have a conversation” with a brand.

The study found:

-Consumers not only want to talk to brands, they want to establish a conversation: 55% of consumers want an ongoing dialogue with brands

-Learning about new products in the pipeline is a top priority: Respondents were most anxious to talk to the product design (49%) department, followed by customer support (14%), marketing (14%) and pricing (13%)

- Positive brand experiences can generate word-of-mouth buzz: More than 60% of those polled said they tell 10 or more people about the products they like while a third tell 20 or more people

- Listening leads to loyalty: 89% of respondents would feel more loyal to brands which invited them to participate in a feedback group, and 92 percent of those who have a positive experience communicating with a brand will recommend purchasing a product from that brand to someone they know

- Consumers are open to engaging with the competition: 93 percent of consumers surveyed would be interested or very interested in communicating with competitive brands that expressed interest in their feedback if their first choice is not interested in hearing what they have to say

The downturn in the U.S. advertising economy may be far more potracted than any since Madison Avenue began tracking its growth–and the chief factor, ironically, may be one of the fastest-growing sources of media spending: Online.

At least that's what advertising economist Jon Swallen is predicting from a slew of data indicating that the downturn is only partly due to cyclical economic issues such as sagging consumer spending. A bigger and much more fundamental change that will slow advertising growth into the foreseeable future, he says, is the accelerated shift of advertising budgets from expensive and highly inefficient traditional media such as TV, newspapers and magazines into much more cost-effective digital, and largely unmeasured, "below-the-line" media options.

"Some of what we are seeing continues to reflect that shift from traditional to digital media," said Swallen, who as senior vice president-research at TNS Media Intelligence has been closely monitoring which factors have been contributing to the slow growth on Madison Avenue. Last week, Swallen released an analysis of first-quarter 2008 ad spending across the major media, which showed a relatively tepid growth of just 0.6%.

More at online media daily …

Asians and North Americans really do see the world differently. Shown a photograph, North American students of European background paid more attention to the object in the foreground of a scene, while students from China spent more time studying the background and taking in the whole scene, according to University of Michigan researchers.

Nisbett illustrated this with a test asking Japanese and Americans to look at pictures of underwater scenes and report what they saw.

The Americans would go straight for the brightest or most rapidly moving object, he said, such as three trout swimming. The Japanese were more likely to say they saw a stream, the water was green, there were rocks on the bottom and then mention the fish.

The Japanese gave 60 percent more information on the background and twice as much about the relationship between background and foreground objects as Americans, Nisbett said.

Note that last comment – Japanese (and I suspect that this is broadly true for Asians) observe and place import on the relationship between things. 

Asian’s do indeed tend to see of the context as more important than Westerners – and this needs to be born in mind when developing products and campaigns.

Think of one of the most well known Asian brand personalities – The Singapore Girl, she is largely characterized by how she interacts with her context – rather than for standalone attributes.

Could this be one reason  why word of mouth marketing (where brands are discussed in context) works so well here in Asia?