« Blogs Overhyped in 2005? Marketers Still Need to Care | Main | Jim Nail Joins as Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer »

Harris Survey Analyzes Value of Word of Mouth

The Wall Street Journal ran an article(free subscription required)today about a new survey from Harris Interactive on the effects of word-of-mouth communications.  Coincidentally Ron Alsop who spoke at Cymfony's event last year on the importance of monitoring corporate reputation authored the piece.  According to Harris, WOM carries much more weight than corporate advertising and public relations. About 85% of respondents said word of mouth communications is credible, compared with 70% for advertising and PR.  The Harris study reinforces the importance of monitoring word-of-mouth messages, including chatter in blogs and other sites on the Internet. "Companies are remiss if  they aren't getting a handle on what's being said about them and trying to manage it," said Johnathan Dewitt, a senior vice president in Harris's Wirthlin Brand & Strategy Consulting group. 

He continued "Companies should start trying to measure PR, promotional events and sponsorships based on their impact on what people are talking about and whether or not it's positive talk."

Credibility was rated as following:

  • 85% said word-of-mouth communications is credible
  • 70% rated advertising and PR as credible
  • 75% rated media stories about a company as credible
  • 84% found the opinions of company employees believable
  • 92% said personal experience with a company is the most credible

    • Posted by Cymfony on December 6, 2005 at 04:18 PM | Email this post Permalink

    TrackBack

    TrackBack URL for this entry:
    http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341cdcdc53ef00d83523e4a053ef

    Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Harris Survey Analyzes Value of Word of Mouth:

    Comments

    The comments to this entry are closed.