How Bloggers Foster Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is a method of transferring knowledge about products and services through social networks. Companies are moving toward using social media marketing methods to encourage their messages to spread into difficult to reach groups. A study of bloggers by Kozinets, et. al. (2010) shows how social media communication works within groups cultural norms. The character of the blogger takes on a new form of endorsement or criticism of products. 

In 2008, companies spend $1.54 billion on WOMM initiatives and the amount is expected to increase to $3 billion in 2013 (PQ Media, 2009). The market has a positive impression of independent bloggers and social media users who promote or reject products based upon their unique perspectives. 

The types of blogs vary depending on their personality. Some blogs focus on one concept in a niche market while others focus on multiple concepts. The different being the topics of interest to bloggers and what they find interesting enough to write about.  The process of writing on a blog has become known as “Identity Projects”.

Bloggers fit within a social network based upon their interests and vantage points. People interested in similar ideas, concepts, and products read blogs in order to understand and obtain additional information. 

The collection of likeminded individuals in a social network helps companies sell products and ideas. The same process that exists in face-to-face communication is similar in the online world. Bloggers become opinion generators that foster or squash products in their social network. 

Word of Mouth (WOMM) in online media is a secondary but significant source of developing opinions about products and services that can have an influence on public opinion and purchasing behavior. The researchers found in their study of 80 bloggers that they are not only social networks that use communal vs. commercial norms but they also become opinion generators based on trust, friendship, and alliances.  Bloggers as opinion generations can 1.) communicate the message; 2) stake reputation on the marketing message; and 3) convert the message into language, substance and tone that their readers understand.

Kozinets, R. et. al. (2010). Networked narratives: understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities. Journal of marketing, 74 (2). 

PQ Media (2009). Exclusive PQ Media Research: Despite Worst Recession in Decades, Brands Increased Spending on Word-of-Mouth Marketing 14.2% to $1.54 Billion in 2008 retrieved from http://www.pqmedia.com/about-press-20090729-wommf.html.

Call for Papers: 28th International Business Research Conference

Submission Deadline: July 21, 2014
Date: September, 8^th & 9^th 2014
Venue: Novotel Barcelona City Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

Website: www.info-researchmeeting.com 

We seek either abstract and/or full paper from the academics, scholars or researchers in the broad fields of Accounting, Banking, Economics, Finance, Investment, Management, Marketing and all other business subjects for the above international conference organised by London Academic Research and Publication, UK, Australian Centre for Accounting, Finance and Economics, Australia and American Research and Publication, USA and sponsored by eight international peer reviewed journals, which are indexed by Cabell Publication, Ulrich and EBSCO of USA, ABDC and ERA of Australia. Criteria used to select papers for the conference include originality of the paper which must not be submitted in any journal

Paper Submission: Please send your paper to Ms. Nuha Jahan via spainconfo@gmail.com

 Website:  www.info-researchmeeting.com

Designing Websites to Capture Global Customers

Designing and developing websites that reach out and spark the interest of multiple cultures is difficult. Because a website is the online “face” of an organization and regularly conducts e-commerce activities it is important to build sites that are both functional and effective. Research by Dr. Kirk St. Amant examines culture, website design and the international spread of online access for businesses that want to polish their global business designs. 

Cultures have an impact on how users frequent and interact with website elements. It is often beneficial to use local administers with key cultural knowledge to evaluate websites (Esselink, 2000). Providing materials, information, e-commerce, and page navigation through the eyes of the target culture can raise overall conversion rates and sales. 

According to World Internet Stats in 2012 there were approximately 2.4 billion Internet users with a market penetration of 34.3% (Internet Users in the World, 2012). Growth between 2000 and 2012 is 566% showing the market is growing at a significant rate. The large market highlights how businesses can have profound impact if they develop their systems appropriately.

The author discusses how symbols and pictures impact how viewers understand web sites. For example, electrical plugs may look different in some countries leading to a rejection of the product.  Different cultures also have diversified understandings of visual information that impact product impressions (Del Galdo, 1996). 

Cultures use different prototypes to understand information. In prototype theory customers scan information to find similarities to the ideal (prototype) image in their heads to determine how to understand and categorize information (Aitchison, 1994). When pictures and information are mentally categorized on a site it is better understood and acted on by customers. 

The author concludes that by using simple analysis mechanisms it is possible to improve the global appeal of websites. The report acknowledges that this is just a first step and additional research into visual perception and understanding issues will have a significant impact on sites in the future. Businesses can consider the following website features in their evaluations:

Menu Bar: Where, How many, Linked vs. Image

Buttons: Where, Shape, Text vs. Image

Color: Background and Foreground Color

Hyperlinks: How Many, Where, Visual Space, Design

Text: How Much, Size, Capitalization, Consistency, Formatting

Search Engine: Where, Color

Pictures: How Many, Where, Size, Resolution, Color Scheme, Pictures vs. Artistic Impressions, Human Pictures, Logos

Aitchison, J.  (1994). Bad birds and better birds: prototype theory. Language: introductory readings. Ed. Virginia P. Clark, Paul A. Eschholz and Alfred F. Rosa (4^th ed). NY: St. Martins.

Del Galdo, E. (1996). Culture and design. International User Interfaces. NY: Wiley

Esselink, B. (2000) A practical guid to localization. PA: John Benjamins.

Internet Users in the World (2012). World Internet States. Retrieved June 30^th, 2013 from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Fashion: Looking Great While Being Eco-Friendly

There is nothing wrong with looking great while buying products that are environmentally sustainable. Life Khacki offers a solid brand that looks modern, feels great, and retails for a reasonable $25-30. Fashion doesn’t need to be about buying products that enhance your physical image alone but can also include a new dimension on how you feel about yourself.  Few things compare to looking great while protecting the environment when wearing clothing with recycled material by Repreve.

Repreve is a recycle microfiber that uses items like plastic bottles and other waste to make a high quality material used in clothing. Because the materials are recycled there is less petroleum and greenhouse gases omitted. For example in 2012 they recycled 410 million plastic bottles. This equates to 2,934 acres of pine forest or 3.8 million gallons of gasoline.  You can also ponder on how they save enough drinking water for 52,313 people per year. 

The company’s material makes its way into everything from men’s clothing to television sets.  Think of companies like Life Khacki, Swiftwick, North Face, Haggar, Vitamin A Swimwear, Ford and American Flora Dance and Yoga Wear. In an increasingly cost conscious and environment conscience market companies are finding the benefit of including eco-friendly clothing. 

Repreve’s brand position doesn’t necessarily come from pushing sales. Instead, pushing environmentally sound behavior in the form of altruism can lead to higher levels of purchase behavior (Yeoh & Paladino, 2013). Customers don’t want to be pushed to buy a product but don’t mind being encouraged to feel good about themselves through the products they do buy.

You may be surprised to notice that many of the products that use Repreve’s microfiber are outdoor or beauty oriented.  These are the same demographics that not only enjoy the environment but also want to protect it. Nothing frustrates hikers and beach goers more than piles of garbage and entire forests cleared without significant justification. 

Clothing that is good for the environment and saves waste by recycling materials has more value than other textile products.  Contributing to recycling and avoiding the unnecessary opening of new fields or inadvertent destruction of the environment is the responsible thing to do. Companies that can take the old and build something new are not only inventive new outputs but also develop additional social capital.

http://www.repreve.com/

http://www.haggar.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=12177899

Yeoh, M. & Paladino, A. (2013). Prestige and environmental behaviors: does branding matter? Journal of Branding Management,  20 (4).

The Effectiveness of Push vs. Pull in Online Marketing

Marketing strategy is arguably one of the major components of running a successful business. Without customers you have no sales, revenue or reason to exist. Online marketing is still in its infancy and will continue to grow and develop for the foreseeable future. A study by Spilker-Attig & Bettel (2010) analyzed the effectiveness of push and pull strategies at an online retailer by using 2.7 million orders across different price points. 

People regularly confuse the subtle but important difference between marketing and sales. Marketing is the long-term oriented strategy and sales are short-term customer-specific transactions (Homburg, et. al., 2007).  Marketing focuses on a larger demographic and casts a wide net while sales is focused more on specific activities that pin-point customers. 

All sales are based on interactivity between the company and its customers. Connectivity is seen as an important variable in online advertisement (Roehm & Haugtvedt, 1999).  The way in which the customer is attracted to a particular product/service and how they find that offering is the connective reaction between customer and company. 

Advertisements can generally take a central or peripheral route. The central route is used when customers are highly motivated and are willing to cognitively process the ad which changes attitude toward the product (Tam & Ho, 2005). The peripheral route is taken when low motivation is present and can temporarily change the attitude. 

Advertisements seek a central or peripheral route based upon the advertising channel used. For example, push strategies are more akin to centralized routes and make use of pop up displays, emails, and other company initiated methods. Pull strategies focus on search engine ranking, sponsored stories, and other customer initiated contacts. Think of putting it in your customers face or drawing your customers’ interest. 

The authors found that there was a significant differences of effectiveness between push and pull strategies. Clicks on price comparison websites, affiliate loyalty sites, and search engines produced higher purchase responses. Both cheap and expensive products responded well to search-engine market position. Higher cost products responded to affiliate loyalty programs. 

The study helps highlight how a number of push channels do not get the response rate companies desire. The internet is an amebic system that holds hundreds of millions of users it is generally better to develop organic methods of pulling customer interest. Focusing in areas where your target market is likely to be found, catering to your customer demographics, and drawing interest through key concepts and words seems to have the highest return rates.  

Pilker-Attig, A. & Brettel, M. (2010). Effectiveness of online advertising channels: a price-level-dependent analysis. Journal of Marketing Management, 26 (3/4). 

Roehm, H., & Haugtvedt, C. (Eds.). (1999). Understanding interactivity of cyberspace advertising. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Tam, K.Y., ôc Ho, S.Y (2005). Web personalization as a persuasion strategy: An elaboration likelihood model perspective. Information Systems Research, 16(3), 271-291.