You may often hear the word word of mouth in business and daily life. However, many people may not know the specific definition of word of mouth. In this article, we will explain the overview of word of mouth and the difference between them and reviews. We will also explain the advantages and disadvantages of reviews from the perspective of consumers and companies, so please use this as a reference.
What is word of mouth?
Word of mouth is feedback from consumers who have purchased or used a product or service. It can also refer to the sharing of information from person to person by word of mouth. Now that the Internet has become widespread, there are many
platforms
called review sites that allow consumers to easily post their impressions and criticisms of stores, products, and services.
Reviews reflect the honest opinions of consumers, so they are often used as a reference when purchasing products and services, and when businesses use consumers’ real opinions as a reference. is.
Why word of mouth is important in marketing
The reason word-of-mouth is important in marketing is because it has a significant impact on users’ purchasing behavior. Nowadays, with the spread of the Internet and SNS, it has become easy to find reviews from users who are using the products and services they want.
This would have been impossible in the days when mass advertising was still the norm. Unlike information provided by companies selling products or services, word-of-mouth reviews are highly reliable and reliable as they are first-hand information from users’ experiences. For this reason, users often first check reviews before purchasing a product or service.
In fact, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has announced that in the age group from 20s to 60s, as many as 80% of people have made purchase decisions based on word of mouth and reviews.
Source:
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Part 1 Special Feature IoT/Big Data/AI ~New value created by networks and data~
As can be seen from these statistics, word of mouth is highly trusted by users as “true information” in a sense, and is a factor that has a large influence on purchasing behavior decisions.
Difference between word of mouth and review
Similar to word-of-mouth, the word “review” reflects the voices and impressions of consumers. “Word of mouth” and “review” are sometimes confused, but there are subtle differences in nuance. For this reason, both consumers and businesses need to be careful when using it as a reference for the following reasons.
Reviews also include hearsay information, including rumors from third parties who are not the posters. On the other hand, reviews are based on the author’s own experience. For this reason, reviews can be said to be more reliable information.
Benefits of reviews from a consumer perspective
Reviews have their own advantages and disadvantages from the point of view of consumers and businesses. Knowing why and how consumers use reviews is important for understanding consumer psychology. The benefits of reviews from consumers are as follows:
I will explain each in turn.
You can imagine the information before dealing with the product or service.
When purchasing or considering a product or service, by checking reviews in advance, you can get an idea of the service content and usability, which has the advantage of avoiding mistakes after use or purchase. If it is difficult to visualize the service content or usability, by knowing the impressions of third parties through word of mouth, consumers can relive the benefits they would receive if they replaced it themselves.
The third party uses the reviews to imagine how the person in question would perceive the advantages and disadvantages of the product or service in question, and then decides whether or not to purchase it.
Less chance of making unnecessary losses
When it comes to expensive products, products with many variations or lineups, and products whose usability and effectiveness are difficult to imagine, we often read word-of-mouth reviews and refer to the experiences of other consumers.
When a consumer makes a purchase based solely on their own subjective opinion, there may be unexpected flaws or they may find a similar product that is more suitable for them, so checking reviews beforehand can help reduce risks. There is.
Turning away from a product’s disadvantages or repurchasing it can result in psychological and financial losses for consumers, so word of mouth is used as a preventative measure to avoid failure.
Disadvantages of reviews from a consumer perspective
Of course, word of mouth is not the only benefit. Depending on the company that handles the product or the review site, there is a possibility that the product may be a so-called “sakura” review that is self-produced. Therefore, literacy to discern reviews of self-performances is required. If consumers are unable to distinguish between genuine, high-quality reviews and self-produced reviews, they could end up losing out.
When using the review function of e-commerce sites or word-of-mouth sites, take advantage of ways to protect yourself from reviews by yourself, such as using tools to identify shills.
Benefits of word of mouth from the perspective of business operators
Reviews have many benefits for businesses as well. With word of mouth on your side, you can expect to be recognized by many consumers and increase sales. From the perspective of businesses, there are two main benefits of word of mouth:
Both are important from a marketing perspective, so we will explain them in detail below.
Increases the value of products and services
The more reviews a product or service has, the more consumers are likely to have used it. In addition, the higher the reviews, the more they will tickle consumer sentiment and influence purchasing decisions, making the advertising more effective. Since consumers take the initiative in spreading awareness of products and services, businesses should strive to create an environment where consumers can easily leave reviews.
Reach more users for free
Even if the reviews from the business are not very good, the fact that they are passed on through word of mouth increases awareness and allows the product or service to reach more people. In addition to verbal reviews, review sites are also available for free, making it attractive for businesses to advertise to a large number of users without incurring any costs.
Disadvantages of word of mouth from the perspective of business operators
It goes without saying that word of mouth can spread not only good things for businesses, but also bad things. In particular, widely recognized reviews, such as reviews shared by many people or reviews from people with strong influence, have the power to move consumers accordingly.
If such influential and negative reviews spread, it could lead to losses for businesses, so it is necessary to pay attention to the content of reviews. Mainly keep the following points in mind.
There is a risk of reputational damage
One of the disadvantages of reviews is that there is a risk of reputational damage. For example, even though your company has nothing to do with the event in question, simply saying that you sell similar products or services can give you a bad reputation.
This is called reputational risk, and refers to the risk that a company’s favorability and evaluation will decline due to such a negative image, resulting in financial losses. By the way, reputation means “reputation” in English, and reputation risk is sometimes called “reputation risk” or “rumor risk” in Japanese.
can’t control
Reviews are interactions between consumers, so companies cannot control them. Precisely because it cannot be controlled, there is a sense of trust as “user voices” and “true information.”
If you are trying to control reviews by encouraging people who have purchased your product or service or your company’s members to give good reviews, there is a possibility that a post will be posted stating that you were encouraged to do so.
These forced actions often lead to backlash from users and the spread of even more inconvenient information, making it impossible for a single company to control word of mouth alone.
How to use word of mouth for marketing
If word of mouth spreads in a positive manner, it will become a reliable ally for businesses. Incorporate word of mouth into your marketing and make the most of it. Here’s how to use word of mouth for marketing:
Main premise: Provide good service to get good reviews.
As a business owner, it goes without saying that if you don’t provide good products and services, you won’t be able to get good word of mouth. Word of mouth will spread if you confidently offer your products and services to consumers and have them accept them positively.
Make sure to provide high-quality products that are easily accepted by consumers, and lay the groundwork for them to spread good word of mouth.
When we receive good reviews, we will spread the word within our company.
Even if the word of mouth is good, it will have no advertising effect if the word of mouth does not spread. When you receive good reviews, be aware of how to spread the word and take measures that will attract the attention of consumers. If your company operates SNS or a blog, quoting good reviews as “customer testimonials” can further emphasize the points you want to emphasize.
Rather than just quoting, “how to spread the word” is an important point when taking measures. If you are using SNS, focus on how effectively you can use the sharing and spreading functions, and be creative when posting.
As a precaution, check to see if it is an exaggerated expression.
One thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the reviews you write are not exaggerated. In particular, when reviewing reviews of pharmaceuticals, quasi-drugs, and cosmetics, be careful not to use expressions that would fall foul of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Act. For example, expressions such as “My hair has grown back so much!” or “I lost 10 kg in weight in 3 days!” are a one-off, and may be subject to punishment.
It’s easy to think that it doesn’t matter because it’s a user review, but if a business asks an influencer to pay a fee as part of their marketing activities, the business that made the request will be subject to punishment. For these reasons, we need to be extremely careful about exaggerated expressions.
We will investigate the cause of bad reviews and improve our services.
Bad reviews are painful to hear, but let’s use them wisely to improve our services. Bad reviews also contain valuable information for businesses that can improve their products and services. It is important not to ignore bad reviews, but to look at them from the perspective of “Is there anything that can be improved?”
Of course, be sure to separate reviews that can improve your service from slander and slander, and apply for deletion of unjustified slander that would interfere with business operations. The advantage of word of mouth is that you can listen to consumer feedback without incurring any costs. Be willing to take advantage of bad reviews so that you can improve the quality of your products and services and generate good reviews.
When replying, be careful of the risk of flaming.
When responding to reviews with comments, etc., we always take the risk of flaming into account before responding. In these days when compliance is being emphasized, it is easy to get into trouble for a small mistake in expression or inappropriate remark.
In addition, when communicating with users, they become emotional, and even if they are gentle, they use abusive language or lack of dignity, which can lead to trouble. It is important to always consider and respond to these fire risks.
Marketing method using word of mouth
Word of mouth is driven by consumers and leads to sales promotion of products and services. Take advantage of this property and use it to your advantage in marketing. Also, be careful of stealth marketing when doing all of the following marketing.
Stealth marketing is an abbreviation for stealth marketing, which refers to marketing that is conducted in a way that does not make users realize that an advertisement is an advertisement. Previously, there was no penalty for conducting advertising activities in this way, but after the Stemming Control Act was enacted in October 2023, it has become subject to regulation. There are three types of marketing methods that utilize word of mouth:
buzz marketing
Buzz marketing
is a marketing method that uses “buzz” and “buzz”, which have become frequently heard these days. The aim is for businesses to intentionally spread information, including reviews, on SNS such as blogs, Instagram, X, YouTube, etc. in order to reach a large number of targets. Buzz marketing works as follows.
1. Find people (influencers) who have formed a follower base who are interested in the product or service you want to sell, and ask them to do PR. We also provide direction on how to write reviews as needed.
2. Influencers actually use the product/service and post good reviews on SNS.
3. It spreads explosively from follower to follower after seeing the influencer’s post. Good reviews will be shared, which will eventually lead to sales.
The above process allows you to spread word of mouth intentionally and efficiently. Once it creates a buzz, it has the advantage of spreading awareness more than the operator expected. It is also important to select influencers who have followers that make it easy for your company’s products to reach, such as beauty influencers for cosmetics and clothing, and game video contributors for games.
Gaining buzz depends on the influencer’s skill and timing, but it’s relatively inexpensive so it’s worth a try.
viral marketing
Viral marketing is a method of spreading word of mouth on the Internet by leveraging consumers’ desire to share a product with someone else. For example, by setting up a button to share on SNS or LINE on a product page, consumers who see the button can share reviews such as “I want this product,” “I want to use this product,” “It’s easy to use, and I recommend it.” It is also a type of viral marketing.
The difference is that in buzz marketing, businesses intentionally ask businesses to post reviews, whereas in viral marketing, consumers naturally post reviews of their own volition. Since viral marketing is left up to the will of the consumer, it is uncertain whether it will directly lead to large sales, but the advantage is that it is inexpensive.
Influencer/ambassador marketing
Influencer/ambassador marketing both refer to marketing methods that use influential people to communicate to users.
influencer marketing
An influencer is someone who has influence over users in a specific field, area, or area. They have gained many fans and friends, and are well known to some extent in society. By having these influencers who have influence over a certain number of users introduce products and services and send word of mouth, this will lead to purchasing behavior among users. This method is
influencer marketing
.
As a user, it is a marketing method that makes you want to try using the product or service because it is used by your favorite influencer, and there is a high probability that you will purchase it without any doubts.
ambassador marketing
Ambassador marketing is a marketing method in which people who become ambassadors introduce your company’s products and services. Ambassador means “ambassador” in Japanese, but in marketing, it does not mean an ambassador carrying out diplomatic missions, but rather a “propaganda ambassador.”
This refers to a person who represents your company and promotes your company’s products and services. For example, companies choose ambassadors from among those who already like and use their products and services, and then appoint them as official ambassadors, giving them the right to speak out. However, even if an ordinary person does it, it has little influence, so celebrities are usually appointed.
Example of review posting service
Examples of review posting services include:
Major platforms such as Google
Major platforms include Google, Amazon, and the App Store. Google lists businesses and stores on Google Maps, and also displays reviews. Also, on Amazon, App Store, etc., product reviews are posted all over the product page.
Specific fields such as Tabelog
In certain areas such as Tabelog and @Cosme, there are many reviews from people who have used the store or used the cosmetics. There are also entertainment sites such as movies, job change sites where you can find company information, and sites where you can check reviews of apartments and clinics. In these specific fields, the general public doesn’t know the atmosphere or feel of the product, so reviews from people who have actually experienced it are extremely valuable.
summary
In this article, we introduced an overview of word of mouth, their advantages and disadvantages, and marketing methods that utilize word of mouth.
Word of mouth does not cost much in that consumers take the lead in raising awareness. In addition, businesses can benefit from not only good reviews but also bad reviews, so start by taking measures to increase word-of-mouth, regardless of the content.
Marketing methods that rely on word of mouth are inexpensive compared to other forms of advertising and can be started easily. Please refer to this article and utilize it for marketing using word of mouth.