How much does word of mouth really affect brand success?

A new study, which aims to confirm just how much word of mouth influences consumer decision-making and brand loyalty, found that as many as 10 conversations a day mention brands.

TalkTrack, which tracked more than 14,000 conversations by 2,5000 people in May this year, found that 81% of brand conversations take place face to face, although people regularly talk about brands over the phone and online too.

The Starcom MediaVest, News International and ESPN-funded study, still believes that the internet is crucial in driving WOM.  Research shows that around 47% of brand conversations mention media, with the internet being the the most-talked about medium between consumers.

However, people also discussed TV (13%), newspapers (5%), magazines (4%), radio (2%) and posters (1.5%).  TalkTrack found that when online was mentioned, consumers were 30% more likely to seek further brand information.

Unsurprisingly, the study discovered that advertising is still the number one driver of brand mentions (17%), followed by programming and editorial (11%), websites (10%) and social media (4%).

The influential group of “conversation catalysts”, who advocate brands, are likely to earn over £55k, be degree education and have a professional occupation.  They will also usually have a social network twice the size of the average consumer, mention brands twice a week and are twice as likely to give advice, according to the TalkTrack study.

Other key findings include:

• The top 10 brands with the highest percentage of positive mentions (descending): Amazon.com, BMW, New Look, Sony, Adidas, Nescafe, Volkswagen, Primark, HP and Nike
• Top 10 brands with the lowest percentage of positive mentions (descending): Microsoft, HSBC, Santander, Vodafone, McDonalds, T-Mobile, KFC, Barclays, TalkTalk and BT
• Those in the 24-35 yer old age bracket are more likely to talk about brands
• The older you get, the less negative you tend to become about brands
• People earning under £15k are more likely to be negative
• People who are married or married with kids are more likely to be positive
• 64% of people have a conversation on food and dining on a daily basis, with media and entertainment a close second at 63%
• 57% of people mention beverages on an average day, with sports, recreation and hobbies at 50% and technology close behind at 48%
• Media, technology and personal care received the highest proportion of positive mentions, with banks registering the lowest net advocacy

Stewart Easterbrook, CEO at Starcom MediaVest Group UK, said: “TalkTrack is a crucial new study for brands in the UK, given its unrivalled ability to track brand advocacy via word of mouth. We have long since known how much word of mouth can affect brand success but TalkTrack allows us to track who, what, when and where brand conversations are taking place.

“Knowing the impact of media and marketing and who the most influential consumers are is crucial in understanding the role media can have in earning share of voice.”

Claire Myerscough, business intelligence director at News International, believes that with the help of TouchPoints3 (which now includes WOM data), 2010 will see WOM become a big planning consideration for the first time.

In April, Myerscough wrote an interesting article explaining why advertisers are more likely to take note of WOM now that more research is available.

“We consumers naturally place great value on the opinions of those that we trust and consider to have similar needs and desire as us (or indeed those who we aspire to be like),” she said. “Recently published research now shows that recommendations from family and friends trump all other touch points when it comes to influencing purchases.”