Word-of-mouth marketing is a promotional strategy where satisfied customers share their positive experiences or opinions about a product, service, or brand[9] to others, essentially serving as a brand advocate. This marketing method traces its roots back to the 1970s, coined by psychologist George Silverman, and has evolved significantly with the emergence of the internet[7], especially redes sociais[4] plataformas como Facebook[6] e YouTube[8]. The strategy is driven by factors such as social currency, triggers, emotion, public visibility, and the practical value of the product or service. It employs various techniques including creating marketing buzz[2], generating positive hype, and utilizing viral marketing[3], relações públicas[1]e advertising[5] campaigns. Word-of-mouth marketing has its benefits such as enhancing advertising impact and fostering trust among consumers, but it also comes with challenges such as the possibility of spreading negative reviews rapidly.
Marketing boca-a-boca (WOMM, WOM marketing, also called word-of-mouth advertising) is the communication between consumers about a product, service, or company in which the sources are considered independent of direct commercial influence that has been actively influenced or encouraged as a marketing effort (e.g. 'seeding' a message in a networks rewarding regular consumers to engage in WOM, employing WOM 'agents'). While it is difficult to truly control word of mouth communication, there are three generic avenues to 'manage' word of mouth communication for the purpose of word-of-mouth marketing, including:
- Building a strong WOM foundation (building brand loyalty, trust and satisfaction)
- Indirect WOM management (advertisement and other promotional strategies)
- Direct WOMM management (viral marketing e electronic communication)
The success of word-of-mouth marketing depends heavily on the nature of the loyalty rewards used. When companies utilize poor incentives to motivate consumers or agents to spread positive word of mouth about products or brands, the campaigns backfire.