WOM: Public and Practical Value Flashcards
What is practical value?
• Both influencers provide **practical and useful information. **
• **Passing along useful things strengthens our social bonds. **
• If we know our friends are into cooking, sending them a new recipe we found brings us closer together.
• Health and education are some of the most frequently shared articles on The New York Times Most Emailed list.
• Practical Value may be the easiest to apply out of the six principles of creating WOM.
• Practical value is about helping others.
• Sharing is caring.
Why do we share useful information?
• The emotion topic says that when we care, we share. Butthe opposite is also true. Sharing is caring.
• If Social Currency is about information senders and how sharing makes them look, Practical Value is mostly about
the **information receiver. **
• It’s about saving people time or money or helping them have good experiences.
How do others choices provide information?
• The world is uncertain. To resolve the uncertainty, we look to what others are doing and follow that.
• This is called Social Proof.
• Social proof (also known as informational social influence) is a psychological and social phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior in a given situation.
• We don’t know what products to purchase so we check the online reviews to make our decision.
Which sign would be the most effective?
• Sign 1: You could save up to $50/month on your utility bill.
• Sign 2: You could prevent the release of 200 pounds of
greenhouse gases every month.
• Sign 3: Saving energy is a socially responsible thing to do.
• Sign 4: 90% of your neighbors have already actively used
fans to save energy.
• Answer: Sign 4 – the one that invoked the
positive social proof.
• The positive social proof was more persuasive
than saving money (sign #1), protecting the
environment (sign #2), and making responsible
choices (sign #3), all of which are positive
behaviors, but none of which could stand up to
the power of group influence.
What are some different types of social proof?
• Opinion leaders (expert, celebrity, micro-influencer, etc.)
• User: User social proof is when your current users
recommend your products and services based on their
experiences with your brand (e.g., testimonials)
• The wisdom of the crowd: This type of social proof is
when a large group of people is seen to be endorsing
your brand (e.g., reviews)
• The wisdom of your friend: This type of social proof is
when people see their friends approve of your product.
• Certification: This type of social proof is when you are
given a stamp of approval by an authoritative organization
What are some effective social proof strategies?
• Display Testimonials (more likely to be believed when there is a human presence)
• Display Ratings and Reviews
• Display Influencer Endorsements
• Display Badges
• Display Media Logos
• Display Subscriber Counts, Social Connections and
Shares
• Display Clients (B to B)
Why are people influenced by similar people?
• Research studies have found that when it comes to
valuing the opinions of others, our brains place more
weight on those people we deem to be most like us.
• When utilizing techniques like testimonials, be sure to
avoid generic “Great service!” quotes.
• Nail down your customer personas to the most particular
detail and capture a moment where a customer describes
a very specific (and very real) pain that they solved with
your product/service.
What do we know about observability?
Monkey see, Monkey do.
• People can imitate only when they can see what others
are doing.
• College students may personally be against binge
drinking, but they binge because that is what they
observe others doing.
• Observability has an impact on whether products and
services catch on.
What are some examples of public vs private?
• If you see someone wearing a shirt you like, you
may decide to purchase something similar.
• But this is much less likely to happen with socks. Because shirts are public and socks are private.
They are harder to see.
• You probably don’t know what kind of toothpaste
your neighbors use. • You are more likely to know what car they drive. • Because car preferences are easier to observe, it
is much more likely that your neighbors’ purchase
behavior can influence yours.
What is the effect of private vs public on consumers goods?
• Socks and toothpaste are harder to observe
• We are less likely to be influenced by others’
choices.
• Cars and shirts are easier to observe.
• We are more likely to be influenced by others’
choices.
How does public visibility boost WOM? What are some products that advertise themselves?
The easier something is to see, the more people talk about it.
• One way to make things more public is to design ideas
that advertise themselves.
• Starbucks or Tim Horton’s coffee cups
• Think of how your product can advertise itself and build
this idea into your products.
• Make it iconic, unique, and recognizable.
• Every time people use the product or service, they also
transmit social proof or passive approval because usage
is observable.
• The visible social proof suggests that the product is a
good product which makes potential consumers feel more
comfortable about purchasing it.
• Shapes, sounds, or other distinctive characteristics can
also help products advertise themselves.
• When people see the ribbon, it reminds them of breast
cancer
What is behavioural residue?
the residue of our actions. • People posting their opinions and behavior online
provide a behavioral residue. Reviews, blogs,
posts, and other sorts of content all leave
evidence that others can find later. • The longer behavioral residue is visible, the
longer it allows others to imitate and talk about it.
• Tiffany or other luxury retailers give customers
shopping bags to carry their purchases home. • Because of the Social Currency associated with
some of these retailers, many consumers reuse
the bags rather than tossing them. • At job fairs or conferences, companies give away
mugs, pens, and T-shirts with their names on
them.
What do you know about the “Just Say No” Campaign? Making the public private.
• One of the most famous sayings and ads for the
anti-drug campaign. • It actually seemed to increase drug use.
• It made drug use more public. • The ads say two things simultaneously: 1) Others are
doing drugs, 2) But you should say no. • When more people are doing something, it is more
likely that others will perceive it as being right or normal. • “Everyone’s doing it” attitude—they attribute their
behavior to the situation rather than to their own choices
How do we make the public private?
If you want to get people not to do something, don’t tell them that lots of their peers are doing it.
• “Approximately 30 billion songs were illegally
downloaded” slogan would likely increase illegal
downloads.
• Rather than making the private public, preventing
a behavior requires the opposite: make the public
private. Making others’ behavior less observable.
