Word-of-mouth has impacts on diffusion and sales, but
why are certain products talked about more than others,
both right after consumers first experience them and in
the months that follow? This paper examines how product
characteristics shape immediate and ongoing WOM. The
authors use a hierarchical model (simultaneously
reflecting underlying differences across people and
products) to analyze a unique dataset of everyday
conversations for over 300 different products. They also
conduct both a large field experiment across various
cities and a controlled laboratory experiment with real
conversations. Results indicate that more interesting
products get more immediate WOM, but contrary to
intuition, do not receive more ongoing WOM over a
multi-month period or overall. Products that are cued
more by the environment, however, or are more publicly
visible, receive more WOM both right away as well as
over time. Additional analyses demonstrate which
promotional giveaways in WOM marketing campaigns are
associated with increased WOM. Overall, the findings
shed light on psychological drivers of word-of-mouth and
provide insight into designing more effective WOM
campaigns. pdf 2011