{"id":13972,"date":"2016-03-11T00:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T05:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/?p=13972"},"modified":"2019-10-16T10:26:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T14:26:15","slug":"car-talk-marketing-gift-automotive-gab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/car-talk-marketing-gift-automotive-gab\/","title":{"rendered":"Car Talk: The Marketing Gift of (Automotive) Gab"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michael Lowenstein, Ph.D., CMC Thought Leadership Principal, Beyond Philosophy<\/p>\n

According to Nielsen, word-of-mouth is the most trusted source of decision-influencing and decision-making information for consumers around the world. \u00a0Having often addressed the power of informal communication (<\/span>http:\/\/www.customerthink.com\/blog\/word_of_mouth_and_brand_bonding_puts_consumers_in_the_marketing_drivers_seat<\/span><\/a>), it\u2019s always gratifying to have confirmation by respected research and consulting organizations.<\/span>
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Consumer motivation research (\u201cOn Brands and Word of Mouth\u201d, Journal of Marketing Research, August, 2013), conducted by several professors at U.S. and Israeli business schools, represents large data sets covering online word-of-mouth, offline word-of-mouth, brand equity, and customer brand research. \u00a0Over 600 of the most talked-about U.S. brands, covering 16 product categories, were analyzed during the period from 2007 to 2010. \u00a0Here is one of the most significant findings (as reported by Ed Keller, CEO of Keller Fay Group, a leading word-of-mouth research and consulting firm, in a recent blog):<\/span><\/p>\n

– \u00a0Brand categories talked about online differ widely from those talked about offlline. \u00a0Media, autos, sports and technology dominates online word-of-mouth, because there is \u2018social currency\u2019 in discussing what is new, interesting, and worth sharing with others. \u00a0Other categories \u2013 beverages, food and dining, travel, financial services, beauty products, health products and services \u2013 are much more likely to be communicated in offline conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this blog, we\u2019re zeroing in on automotive word-of-mouth. \u00a0Every year, Foresight Research (Rochester, MI) produces their Word of Mouth Immersion Report<\/span>TM<\/span>, drawn from a study of 7,500 recent new auto buyers, which provides marketers insights on how, why, and where, informal consumer communication contributes to new vehicle purchases. \u00a0In addition to demographics, Foresight covers WOM dynamics such as the number of people to whom advice is given, negative and positive blogging activity, relative influence at each stage of the purchase process, influential messages, and actions taken.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some of what they learned in the 2014 study. \u00a0Topping the list is the finding that Foresight identified what they label as Talkers Plus<\/span>TM<\/span>, 15% of the buyer population who generate 59% of the word-of-mouth. \u00a0These buyers are extremely brand-loyal; and, not only do they comment more frequently than other owners online, but they report being influenced by social media, use mobile devices, and attend motorsports events. \u00a0Importantly, these purchasers also spend $246 more on accessories than their other buyer counterparts. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Word-of-mouth influence is even more concentrated among luxury brands. \u00a0Luxury brand owners are more discriminating and more influenced by multiple channels, which includes auto shows. \u00a0Over two-thirds of luxury brand word of mouth comes from 17% of luxury vehicle owners. \u00a0They give advice to an average of 4.6 consumers, compared to 3.7 consumers for non-luxury buyers. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foresight developed The Amplifier Index<\/span>TM<\/span>, a measurement tool for helping identify how much of an impact word-of-mouth has on brand perception and customer action. \u00a0Within the industry, the index average was 1.22. \u00a0Mercedes-Benz had an index of 2.14, achieved in part by showcasing the stories of passionate Mercedes owners on its Facebook page.<\/span><\/p>\n

The real luxury brand word-of-mouth winner, however, was Audi. \u00a0As scored according to The Amplifier Index<\/span>TM, <\/span>Audi attained a 2.51, the highest of all major brands. \u00a0As the proud owner of a barely broken-in Audi A6 3.0 Quattro Turbo, I can verify a personal level of active, positive, enthusiastic communication on behalf of my vehicle, not so much online but certainly offline. \u00a0My car is a comfortable, sophisticated, smooth-driving and quiet motorized chariot, and I\u2019m always very happy to tell people how much I enjoy being an Audi owner. \u00a0Is that positive enough word-of-mouth, brand-bonding and owner advocacy? \u00a0I\u2019d say so. \u00a0Where Audi is concerned, I\u2019m an amplifier (meaning that I\u2019m a brand advocate, not a promoter).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Republished with permission from CustomerThink.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nMichael Lowenstein<\/a> provides strategic consulting, research design and in-depth, leading-edge analysis that helps clients deliver outstanding business results through deeper customer experience<\/a>, communication, relationship, employee and brand equity insights. Beyond Philosophy<\/a> provide consulting, specialised<\/span> research & training from our Global Headquarters in Tampa, Florida, USA.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Lowenstein, Ph.D., CMC Thought Leadership Principal, Beyond Philosophy According to Nielsen, word-of-mouth is the most trusted source of decision-influencing and decision-making information for consumers around the world. \u00a0Having often addressed the power of informal communication (http:\/\/www.customerthink.com\/blog\/word_of_mouth_and_brand_bonding_puts_consumers_in_the_marketing_drivers_seat), it\u2019s always gratifying to have confirmation by respected research and consulting organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":13973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97,130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","category-customer-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}