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March 17, 2006
The velocity of bad WOM
Some new research shows how quickly word of mouth can spread from unhappy retail customers.
* Almost half of shoppers say they avoid a particular store because of someone else's negative experience.
* 31% of customers tell one or more friends about a problem they experienced with a store. But on average, shoppers tell four people about their negative shopping experience.
* Negative word of mouth influences future patronage up to five times more than the person who experienced the problem first-hand due to the Telephone Game Effect, meaning that the orginal problem description is continually embellished as it passes from person to person.
The study comes from the Verde Group and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The authors surveyed 1,200 people in the four weeks before Christmas, the time of year when many retailers are finally turning a profit.
While the study focused on American retail customers, it seems safe to assume the findings can apply across multiple industries and countries.
Other blogs that reference The velocity of bad WOM:
» Bad news spreads fast from Inside the Cubicle
The Church of the Customer Blog points to a study from The Verde Group and The Wharton School that discusses the causes of consumer dissatisfaction. Among the interesting findings: - Shoppers experiencing problems are five times more likely to tell a f... [Read More]
» Great Example Of Customer Service At Office Depot from Customer Service Experience
Over at Church of The Return Customer, Jackie and Ben have published the latest data on word of mouth. No surprise there, but if you're looking for facts that'll help you sell your co-workers on its importance, they've got it... [Read More]
» Hearing can be worse than experiencing from 1000heads - 1 blog
New research just out of the University of Pennsylvania suggests that hearing about someone else's bad experiencescan beworse than experiencing the problem yourself.Paula Courtney, head if the Verde Group, who carried out the study on 1,200... [Read More]
» http://www.thelightisgreen.com/2006/03/i_dont_know_abo.html from The Light Is Green
I don't know about you but I've become a bit numb to the old a happy client will tell 3 people but an unhappy one will tell 11 line... so it was refreshingto read an article with a lot of [Read More]
» Bad word of mouth from The Light Is Green
I think we all know by know that a happy client will tell 3 (or is it 4)people but an unhappy one will tell 11, since we've been bombarded by this factoid in countless articles, books, etc. etc... :) [Read More]
» Un cliente disgutado... from Semáforo verde
Creo que ya todos sabemos que un cliente feliz le dirá a 3 (o eran 4) personas, pero que uno disgustado se lo dirá a 11... lo hemos leído en cuantiosos libros, artículos, etc. etc... :) Por eso fue refrescante [Read More]
The velocity of bad WOM runs at warp speed for some companies, just look at Enron.
I'd like to interview you two for a book I'm writing called, "Life After the Press Release" about just this theme.
Word of Mouth is as vital as ever in this day and age, where communciations boundaries are constantly being redefined and the landscape of consumer knowledge has been re-configurated by the internet. Heinz tomato ketchup and the Heinz brand have been around forever, providing millions of homes with the favorite choice of ketchup, but have recently come under attack from other brands launching their products in the same field - it's a testament to customer loyalty and word of mouth spreading down the generations that Heinz ketchup is still the origianl and the best after all these years, like Coca-Cola or McDonalds, certain brands seep into the consumer conscious as the only choice - they build-up a unique level of trust with the comsumers, a point well-developped in Naomi Klein's book, 'No Logo'
Robb -- Would be happy to participate. Email me details.
