Research Friday: Oh Don't Shock Me That Much!

When Will You Use This? 

 

Managing word-of-mouth marketing campaigns. As word-of-mouth is linked to decision making, increased sales, faster product adoption, it’s important to know which type of conversation has impact on people’s choice. Marketers often believe that controversy increases conversation and this research reveals some interesting details.

What’s On The Front Page Today? 

 

We believe that more controversy always leads to more buzz. Really?

The current series of experiments* analyze effects of controversy on likelihood of conversation and how situational variables such as identity disclosure affect people’s willingness to talk about controversial topics.

Results reveal that controversial issues, in fact, are often more interesting, which makes people more inclined to talk about them. It is noted that moderate levels of controversy increase likelihood of conversation. Simultaneously, additional increases in controversy (=high level of controversy) is never better as it increases discomfort and makes people talk less.

Furthermore, this research shows that when people are granted anonymity (for example, online forums) or when the conversation partner knows the speaker fairy well (for example, friend), the link between controversy and conversation tends to be more positive since it is driven primarily by interest (not discomfort).

Credit: Wikipedia image

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks 

When you are planning to generate consumer to consumer word-of-mouth, keep these few points in mind:

• People avoid talking about extremely controversial topics (for example, death penalty, abortions) so you should avoid too. High controversy is also connected to negative publicity. 
• Develop ad campaigns that are moderate, at most, in controversy (for example, PETA “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign, many campaigns of United Colors of Benetton).
• If you want to encourage online discussion, then more controversy may be more tolerated in comparison to face-to-face environments. 

* When, Why, and How Controversy Causes Conversation. Zoey Chen and Jonah Berger. Journal of Consumer Research, 2013, vol. 40, issue 3, 580 - 593. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share which controversial topics were you discussing lately. Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on creating your word-of-mouth piece? Let's do this together.