Rekommendationer eller konversationer - Effekten av innehållet i word of mouth på mottagarens inställning till det omtalade företaget
We investigate the effects of various types of word-of-mouth (WOM) messages on consumer bahavior. The message is varied along two dimensions where one is valence and the other is whether or not it contains an explicit call for certain behavior or attitude change. We use an experiment in the form of a web-based survey. Five different scenarios were designed to represent neutral, positive, and negative WOM. The latter two came in two different versions - one with a recommendation and one without. We find that neutral WOM has the same effect on the receiver of WOM as positive WOM has. What is more, we find that WOM with an explicit recommendation is as effective as WOM without a recommendation. The same relationship is found on the negative side; an explicit recommendation not to buy from a firm is no more persuasive than just negative information about it. The difference between negative WOM and neutral or positive WOM in terms of impact on the receiver is, however, very clear. Thus, it seems that what matters is not the degree of persuasiveness in WOM communication, but rather whether it contains negative WOM or not.