WOM: Triggers Flashcards
What are the drivers of WOM? Why would cheerios get more WOM than Disney world park?
While self-presentational concerns may shape
what people talk about in some situations, many
daily conversations are more like small talk.
• For example, consider how often people talk about the
weather or where they are going for lunch.
• Although technology and media are more
interesting, food is discussed more frequently. People eat cheerios a lot more than they go to Disney!
What is the difference between immediate and ongoing WOM?
Imagine you have just gotten an email about a new UNB
initiative. If you talk about it with your friends later that
day, you are engaging in immediate WOM. • When you pass on the details of an experience or share
new information you have acquired soon after it occurs.
Ongoing WOM covers the conversations you have in the
weeks and months that follow. The movies you saw last
month or a vacation you took last year.
Is immediate WOM or Ongoing WOM more important?
Both types of WOM are valuable but contain
types are more important for certain products. • The success of new movies depends on
immediate WOM. • The success of anti-bullying campaigns depends
on ongoing WOM.
Why should someone care about the volume of WOM?
Brand managers should care about the volume of WOM a
product receives in the long run. • More interesting products may generate immediate WOM
because they are novel. But because interest fades over
time, they may not receive more ongoing WOM. • Interesting products may become less interesting as
people learn more about them.
What drives WOM?
Triggers?
Sights, smells, and sounds can trigger related thoughts,
making them more top of mind.
Using a product is a strong trigger. People drink milk more
often than grape juice, so milk is top of mind more often.
• Triggers can also be indirect. Seeing milk not only triggers
us to think about milk, but it also makes us think about its
frequent partner, tea or coffee.
• Triggers are like little environmental reminders for related
concepts and ideas.
What does top of mind mean?
At any given moment, some thoughts are more top of mind or accessible than others.
• Stimuli in the surrounding environment can determine which thoughts are top of mind.
• If you see a dog while jogging in the park, you might remember that you have always wanted to adopt a dog.
• If you smell food while walking past the classroom, you might start thinking about what to have for dinner.
• If you hear an advertisement for Coke, you might remember that you ran out of soda last night.
Can negativity be a trigger? What’s an example of that?
Even a bad review or negative WOM can increase sales if
it informs or reminds people that the product or service
exists.
• Rebeca Black’s Friday
• Negative attention can be useful if it makes products top
of mind.
What are habitats?
**Habitats are set of triggers. **
Products and services have habitats or sets of triggers that cause people to think about them. • Hot dogs: Barbecues, summertime, and baseball
games are a few triggers that make up the habitat for hot dogs.
• Most products or services have several natural triggers.
• Mars bars and Mars
• French music and French wine
• It is possible to grow a product or service’s habitat by creating new links to stimuli in the environment.
What are some good examples of triggers?
KitKat- take a break - got old, now use coffee
KFC - Christmas in Japan
Cellar Pub - Wing Night
Oreo - Milk
How can competitors be related to triggers?
Competitors can even be used as a trigger.
• It is called the “poison parasite” because it injects “poison”
(your message) into a rival’s message by making it a
trigger for your own.
What makes an effective trigger?
Frequency
KFC for Christmas in Japan is a seasonal trigger. The most effective triggers are the ones people think about
and see more frequently.
• Hot chocolate would also have fitted really well with KitKat. • But coffee is a more effective trigger because people think
about and see it much more frequently.
• Most people drink hot chocolate only in the winter, while coffee is consumed year-round.
Strength
The more things, a given cue is associated with, the weaker any given association.
• For example: the color red, is associated with many things: roses, love, Coca-Cola, and fast cars.
As a result of being ambiguous, it is not a particularly strong trigger for any of these ideas.
• Linking a product or service with a stimulus that is already associated with many things isn’t as effective as using a
fresher, more original link.
What drives us to share/talk?
Some WOMs are motivated by people’s desire to look good to others.
Mentioning clever or entertaining things makes people seem clever and entertaining.
But that isn’t the only factor that drives us to share.
• Most conversations are small talk.
• These conversations are less about finding interesting things to say to make us look good than they are about filling conversational space.
• What drives small talk? Whatever is top of mind.
• Triggers bring things to the top of mind.
What are the three main points of Triggers?
• Our products and services need to take advantage of existing triggers. We also need to grow the habitat
(creating new triggers).
• Social currency gets people talking, but *Triggers keep them talking. *
• Top of mind means the tip of the tongue.
