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Principle 7. Turn WOM into Buzz

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The Seven Principles of WOM and Buzz Marketing

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Abstract

The i-Pod shortage is not an accident, but part of a calculated campaign by its creator Apple Computer, to nurture and foster hype about the product that fuels a contagious, a herd-like behavior that aggregates and speeds WOM, turning it into buzz, accelerating the expected benefits while lowering the expected costs, and helping the product reach its tipping point earlier than later. We are only really excited by what is denied us, by what we cannot posses in full. Your greatest power in seduction is your ability to turn away, to make others come after you, delaying their satisfaction. Most people miscalculate and surrender too soon, worried that the other person will lose interest, or that giving the other what he or she wants will grant the giver a kind of power. The truth is the opposite: once you satisfy someone, you no longer have the initiative, and you open yourself to the possibility that he or she will lose interest at the slightest whim. Human beings are immensely suggestible: their moods will easily spread to the people around them. In fact, seduction depends on mimesis, on the cautious creation of a mood or a feeling that is then reproduced by the other person. But hesitation and awkwardness are also contagious, and are deadly to seduction. I-pod is not Apple’s only innovative product that has followed such a pattern of diffusion. The i-Phone shortage had thousands of fans camping outside Apple Computer stores days ahead of its release, drawing the attention of the mass-media and magnifying consumer hype. In 2006, LeSportsac’s large casual nylon handbags became a trend after fashion stylists first used them in the Tokyo’s fashion district Omotesando, followed by high school girls who soon mimicked them. New clothes, shoes, drinks, toys, game consoles, cell phones, scooters, and automobiles have followed a similar path, creating explosive demand for their products. Beanie Babies, the VW Beetle, the movie The Blair Witch Project, and ICQ (an Internet chat service) were also able to generate WOM hype that resulted in explosive consumer demand. Volkwagen sold 2,000 Reflex Yellow and Vapor Blue Beetles online, and only online.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Robert Greene (2003, p. 71).

  2. 2.

    Robert Greene (2003, p. 65).

  3. 3.

    Rowley (2007, p. 47).

  4. 4.

    Dye, Renee (2000), “The Buzz on Buzz,” Harvard Business Review, November-December, pp. 139-146; and Malcolm Gladwell (2000), The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, New York, NY: Little Brown.

  5. 5.

    Stone and Richtel (2007, p. C1).

  6. 6.

    Pete Blackshaw (2008, p.10).

  7. 7.

    Scoble and Israel (2006, p. 27).

  8. 8.

    Story (2007, p. C1).

  9. 9.

    Joseph E. Phelps, Regina Lewis, Lynne Mobilio, David Perry, and Niranjan Raman (2004), “Viral Marketing or Electronic Word-of-Mouth Advertising: Exaamining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email,” Journal of Advertising Research, December, pp. 333-348.

  10. 10.

    McConnel and Huba (2007, p. ix).

  11. 11.

    McConnel and Huba (2007, p.4).

  12. 12.

    McConnel and Huba (2007, p. 5).

  13. 13.

    McConnel and Huba (2007, p. 10).

  14. 14.

    Schuyler Brown (2006, p. 217).

  15. 15.

    Rosen (2000, P. 19).

  16. 16.

    Pete Blackshaw (2008, p. 70).

  17. 17.

    Pete Blackshaw (2008, p.63).

  18. 18.

    Scoble and Israel (2006, p. 2).

  19. 19.

    Scoble and Israel (2006, p. 2).

  20. 20.

    Steinberg (2007, p. 3).

  21. 21.

    Michelli (2007, p.25).

  22. 22.

    Cialdini (2007, p. 267).

  23. 23.

    Belk et al. (2003, p. 345).

  24. 24.

    Kedrosky (2007, p. A15).

  25. 25.

    Hall (2007, p. 42).

  26. 26.

    Meichtry (2007, p. A13).

  27. 27.

    Ariely (2008, p. 54).

  28. 28.

    Ariely (2008, p. 136).

  29. 29.

    Danielle Sacks (2006), “Down the Rabbit Hole,” Fast Company, November, p.89.

  30. 30.

    Kamenetz (2006, p. 68).

  31. 31.

    Raport (1996, p. 68).

  32. 32.

    Nat Ives (2005), “Interactive Viral Campaigns Ask Consumers to Spread the Word,” The New York Times, February 18.

  33. 33.

    Smith E. and P. Lattman (2007), “Download This: YouTube Phenom has a Big Secret, The Wall Street Journal, p. A1.

  34. 34.

    Paul Marsden in Kirby and Marsden (2006, p.8).

  35. 35.

    Elliot (2007, p. C5).

  36. 36.

    Lorne Manly, “BrewTube,” The New York Time Magazine, pp. 51-56.

  37. 37.

    Michelli (2007, p. 91).

  38. 38.

    Whalen (2006, p. B1).

  39. 39.

    Greene (2001, p. 174).

  40. 40.

    Greene (2001, pp. 209–210).

  41. 41.

    Greene (2001, p. 55).

  42. 42.

    Greene (2001, p. 81).

  43. 43.

    Greene (2001, p. 97).

  44. 44.

    Warren and Jurgensen (2007, p. P4).

  45. 45.

    Warren and Jurgensen (2007, p. P4).

  46. 46.

    Charles Newbery (2005), “Nescafe Builds Buzz via Viral e-mail Effort,” Advertising Age, May 2, p. 24.

  47. 47.

    Herd behavior can be rational or irrational. Joining the herd minimizes the risk of being an outcast, and suffer the consequences. When chased by lions, for instance, a herd of deer, the outcasts run a higher chance to be captured and killed than the ones in the middle of the herd. Joining the herd can be part of a compulsory behavior based on an innate instinct to imitate one another.

  48. 48.

    Coburn (2006, p. 108).

  49. 49.

    Thomas C. Scelling (1978), Micromotives and Macrobehavior, W.W. Norton & Company, p. 40.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Economics, Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, NY, 11548, USA

    Prof. Panos Mourdoukoutas

  2. Athens University of Economics & Business, Patission 76, 103 34, Athens, Greece

    Prof. George J. Siomkos

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  1. Prof. Panos Mourdoukoutas
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Correspondence to Panos Mourdoukoutas .

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Mourdoukoutas, P., Siomkos, G.J. (2009). Principle 7. Turn WOM into Buzz. In: The Seven Principles of WOM and Buzz Marketing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02109-1_8

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