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Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: Evidence from a Field Test

Godes, David, Mayzlin, Dina·2009·Marketing Science

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Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of a firm's proactive management of customer-to-customer communication. We are particularly interested in understanding how, if at all, the firm should go about effecting meaningful word-of-mouth (WOM) communications. To tackle this problem, we collect data from two sources: (1) we implement a large-scale field test in which a national firm created word of mouth through two populations: customers and noncustomers, and (2) we collect data from an online experiment. We break our theoretical problem into two subproblems. First, we ask: “What kind of WOM drives sales?” Motivated by previous research, we hypothesize that for a product with a low initial awareness level, WOM that is most effective at driving sales is created by less loyal (not highly loyal) customers and occurs between acquaintances (not friends). We find support for this in the field test as well as in an experimental setting. Hence, we demonstrate the potential usefulness of exogenously created WOM: conversations are created where none would naturally have occured otherwise. Then, we ask: “Which agents are most effective at creating this kind of WOM?” In particular, we are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of the commonly used opinion leader designation. We find that although opinion leadership is useful in identifying potentially effective spreaders of WOM among very loyal customers, it is less useful for the sample of less loyal customers.

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Background
Relevance of actors in bridging positions for product-related information diffusion
Pescher, C., & Spann, M. (2013) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.09.005 · Cited by 16
Diffusion Dynamics of Energy Saving Practices in Large Heterogeneous Online Networks
Mohammadi, N., Wang, Q., & Taylor, J. E. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164476 · Cited by 19
Examining Individual Differences in Interpersonal Influence: On the Psychometric Properties of the Generalized Opinion Leadership Scale (GOLS)
Batinic, B., Appel, M., & Gnambs, T. (2015) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.2015.1009415 · Cited by 16
“Hence, opinion leadership is typically accompanied by high levels of gregariousness (Weimann, 1991) and word-of-mouth communication (Godes & Mayzlin, 2009).”
Background
The Development and Impact of Consumer Word of Mouth in New Product DiffusionPreprint
Luan, Y., & Neslin, S. A. (2009) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1462336 · Cited by 18
Competing for Influencers in a Social NetworkPreprint
Katona, Z. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2335679 · Cited by 16
“Finally, He et al. (2012) consider firm incentives in a competitive setting to induce connections between customers.”
Mobile app portfolio management and developers’ performance: An empirical study of the apple app store
Li, M., Han, Y., Goh, K. Y., & Cavusoglu, H. (2022) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2022.103716 · Cited by 14
Understanding Contextual Determinants of Likely Online Advocacy by Millennial Donors
Chell, K., Mortimer, G., Dang, T. M. N., & Russell‐Bennett, R. (2023) · Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly · doi:10.1177/08997640231165913 · Cited by 15
“User-generated content tends to be unprompted, voluntary, and conversational, whereas firm-generated is prompted, targeted, and action-focused (Godes & Mayzlin, 2009).”
Background
To Hinder or to Facilitate: Retailers’ Strategy of Consumer Information Sharing
Ma, B., Li, G., & Kong, G. (2024) · Production and Operations Management · doi:10.1177/10591478241256662 · Cited by 15
“Notably, Godes and Mayzlin (2009) demonstrate the effectiveness of WOM communication in promoting product sales.”
Hyperlinked actors in the global knowledge communities and diffusion of innovation tools in nascent industrial field
Hu, Y. (2012) · Technovation · doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2012.10.001 · Cited by 13
Une analyse économique du phénomène de la longue traîne dans les industries culturelles
Bourreau, M., Maillard, S., & Moreau, F. (2015) · Revue française d économie · doi:10.3917/rfe.152.0179 · Cited by 20
Education, Educational Services and their Quality
Al-Dulaimi, Z. Y. S. (2016) · Journal of Marketing Management (JMM) · doi:10.15640/jmm.v3n2a6 · Cited by 16
A sensory perspective in the Italian beer market
Cillo, V., Gavinelli, L., Ceruti, F., Perano, M., & Solima, L. (2019) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/bfj-12-2018-0818 · Cited by 15
Hedonic or utilitarian
Zhu, Y., & Lin, P. (2019) · Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science · doi:10.1108/jcmars-01-2019-0008 · Cited by 16
Social Media Analytics and Its Applications in Marketing
Moon, S., & Iacobucci, D. (2022) · Foundations and Trends® in Marketing · doi:10.1561/1700000073 · Cited by 20
The double benefits of consumer certainty: combining risk and range effects
Maier, E., Wilken, R., & Dost, F. (2014) · Marketing Letters · doi:10.1007/s11002-014-9282-5 · Cited by 15
“toothbrush) and an amplified word-of-mouth seeding module (similar to industry standards; Berger and Schwartz 2011; Godes and Mayzlin 2009).”
Method
Cable News Wars on the Internet: Competition and User-Generated Content
Sabnis, G., & Grewal, R. (2015) · Information Systems Research · doi:10.1287/isre.2015.0579 · Cited by 15
THE ANTECEDENTS OF SATISFACTION FOR FACEBOOK "LIKERS" AND THEIR EFFECT ON WORD -OF -MOUTH
Bunker, M. P., Rajendran, K. N., & Corbin, S. B. (2013) · Cited by 15
WITHDRAWN: Measuring product susceptibility in online product review social network
Xu, Y. C., Zhang, C., & Xue, L. (2013) · Decision Support Systems · doi:10.1016/j.dss.2013.01.009 · Cited by 15
The impact of a firm’s transparent manufacturing practices on women fashion shoppers
Brandão, A., Gadekar, M., & Cardoso, F. (2018) · Journal of Global Fashion Marketing · doi:10.1080/20932685.2018.1503555 · Cited by 15
“item scale developed by Maxham and Netemeyer (2003) and Godes and Mayzlin (2009); and purchase intention was measured by a 4-item scale proposed by Krishnamurthy and Sivaraman (2002).”
Method
Want to make me happy? Tell me about your experiences but not your objects
Bastos, W. (2020) · Journal of Consumer Affairs · doi:10.1111/joca.12321 · Cited by 16
Whose and What Chatter Matters? The Impact of Tweets on Movie SalesPreprint
Rui, H., Liu, Y., & Whinston, A. B. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1958068 · Cited by 15
Inferring opinion leadership from digital footprints
Jansen, N., & Hinz, O. F. (2021) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.032 · Cited by 14
Pricing and Timing Decisions in Promotion Channels
Du, S., Sheng, J., Nie, T., & Zhu, Y. (2023) · IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management · doi:10.1109/tem.2023.3234939 · Cited by 14
“Godes and Mayzlin [18] implement a large-scale ﬁeld test and an online experiment to investigate the retailer’s proactive management of word-of-mouth.”
Background
The Transformative Power of AI in Marketing FMCG
Maheswari, S. K. (2023) · International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research · doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2023.v05i03.3760 · Cited by 14
“According to Godes and Mayzlin (2009), the use of AI-driven marketing strategies raises important ethical considerations, including the potential biases that may be embedded in algorithms.”
BackgroundInfluential
How reviews influence product usage post-purchase: An examination of video game playtime
Philp, M., & Nepomuceno, M. V. (2023) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114456 · Cited by 14

Authors: Godes, D., & Mayzlin, D.
Affiliations: Harvard University (US)
Yale University (US)
ORCID: Godes, David
Mayzlin, Dina
Venue: Marketing Science
Publisher: Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
Published: 2009-07
Volume: 28
Issue: 4
Pages: 721-739
ISSN: 0732-2399 (ISSN-L)
1526-548X
DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1080.0444
OpenAlex: W2132559268
Cited by: 837
References: 59
Citations by year: 2026: 11 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 55 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 73 · 2013: 81 · 2012: 53
FWCI: 155.67
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Marketing Science (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Digital Marketing and Social Media
Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Network Analysis Techniques
Keywords: word of mouth, opinion leadership, customer loyalty, sales effectiveness, customer awareness

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Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: Evidence from a Field Test

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