The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth

Many social media handbooks recommend targeting customers’ close connections and encouraging consumers to spread the word about their products and services among friends. But according to the findings of this research this strategy might not be the most effective way to build positive momentum. In f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Dubois David
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Sciendo 2017-11-01
Series:	GfK Marketing Intelligence Review
Subjects:	Word-of-Mouth WOM Friends Social Media Buzz
Online Access:	http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/gfkmir.2017.9.issue-2/gfkmir-2017-0013/gfkmir-2017-0013.xml?format=INT

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spelling	doaj-art-c4717ebe1ede4342a780c0596159fd532018-09-02T13:37:55ZengSciendoGfK Marketing Intelligence Review1865-58662017-11-0192192410.1515/gfkmir-2017-0013gfkmir-2017-0013The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-MouthDubois David0Assistant Professor of Marketing, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, FranceMany social media handbooks recommend targeting customers’ close connections and encouraging consumers to spread the word about their products and services among friends. But according to the findings of this research this strategy might not be the most effective way to build positive momentum. In fact, it might just do the opposite. The feelings of closeness that WOM senders experience toward their recipients determine what they share. Being close instills the desire to protect a recipient from having a bad experience. Therefore, communicating negative information, which highlights potential negative outcomes or attributes of a product, becomes more likely to be shared among close friends. In relations with loose acquaintances the motive to impress is more prevalent. Therefore, communicating positive information, which is more likely to shed a positive light on the WOM sender, is more likely to be shared in such instances. To encourage positive WOM for seeding campaigns, marketers should select the right platform and monitor closeness. Further, by framing the context of the campaign in the right way, they can also insure more positive WOM for a brand.http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/gfkmir.2017.9.issue-2/gfkmir-2017-0013/gfkmir-2017-0013.xml?format=INTWord-of-MouthWOMFriendsSocial MediaBuzz
institution	Open Data Bank
collection	Open Access Journals
building	Directory of Open Access Journals
language	English
format	Article
author	Dubois David
spellingShingle	Dubois David The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth GfK Marketing Intelligence Review Word-of-Mouth WOM Friends Social Media Buzz
author_facet	Dubois David
author_sort	Dubois David
title	The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth
title_short	The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth
title_full	The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth
title_fullStr	The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth
title_full_unstemmed	The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth
title_sort	medium shapes the message: the surprising negative spin of close friends’ word-of-mouth
publisher	Sciendo
series	GfK Marketing Intelligence Review
issn	1865-5866
publishDate	2017-11-01
description	Many social media handbooks recommend targeting customers’ close connections and encouraging consumers to spread the word about their products and services among friends. But according to the findings of this research this strategy might not be the most effective way to build positive momentum. In fact, it might just do the opposite. The feelings of closeness that WOM senders experience toward their recipients determine what they share. Being close instills the desire to protect a recipient from having a bad experience. Therefore, communicating negative information, which highlights potential negative outcomes or attributes of a product, becomes more likely to be shared among close friends. In relations with loose acquaintances the motive to impress is more prevalent. Therefore, communicating positive information, which is more likely to shed a positive light on the WOM sender, is more likely to be shared in such instances. To encourage positive WOM for seeding campaigns, marketers should select the right platform and monitor closeness. Further, by framing the context of the campaign in the right way, they can also insure more positive WOM for a brand.
topic	Word-of-Mouth WOM Friends Social Media Buzz
url	http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/gfkmir.2017.9.issue-2/gfkmir-2017-0013/gfkmir-2017-0013.xml?format=INT
_version_	1612641036602966016

The Medium Shapes the Message: The Surprising Negative Spin of Close Friends’ Word-of-Mouth

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