Page 141 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

The Impact of Word of Mouth and the Facilitative Effects of Social Media 133

Evolution of the Theory of WOM

the organic inter-consumer influence model. Kozinets and colleagues
(2010) described the earliest and simplest understanding of consumer
WOM as a model of “organic inter-consumer influence.” This framework
assumes that conversations among consumers regarding product and
brand-related marketing messages and meanings hold more sway than
marketing communications in influencing the rate of adoption of a prod-
uct or service. The authors described the framework as “organic” because
it is assumed that the interaction between consumers occurs as a natural
consequence and without direct prompting or any other kind of influence
or measurement by marketers. That is, when marketers innovate and
communicate information to consumers, it is assumed that some consum-
ers value the information enough to convey it to others. But why would
consumers have such a motivation in the first place? Hennig-Thurau
and colleagues (2004) maintained that some consumers gain benefits
in the form of “focus-related utility” from such interactions (among
other utilities). Such a focus-related utility reflects the benefit the con-
sumer receives when adding value to others through his or her contribu-
tions, and it is related to Dichter’s (1966) notion of “other-involvement”
as a motivator of information dissemination. This utility is based upon
the assumption that “adding value” to others is an important goal for
the individual. Personal motives that have been linked to focus-related
utility include concern for other consumers and helping the company.
Concern for other consumers is closely related to the personality charac-
teristic of altruism (Price, Feick, & Guskey, 1995), whereas helping
the company as a motive can be seen as a “payback” to the company
for having had such a positive experience. Focus-related utility is also
seen as the basis for some individuals who have the desire to spread
information about products or companies through social media. In this
context, affiliation with a virtual community can provide a source of
social integration and identification; likewise, it can allow a consumer to
exert or express collective power over a specific company through the
conveyance of the valence of information. Indeed, negative consumer
comments can influence the way a company and its image are perceived.
For example, Canadian musician Dave Carroll and his band, Sons of
Maxwell, wrote a song about a real-life experience when his guitar was
broken during a trip on United Airlines in 2008 and the subsequent reac-
tion from the airline. The song became an immediate hit on YouTube and
iTunes upon its release in July 2009 and a public relations embarrassment
for the airline.