WOM and leading opinion

The social network plays a big role in spreading information, ideas and influence among its members. According to the study, respondents use WOM as one of the key sources of information in the process of making a decision to purchase a product or service. In addition, people are also influenced by leadership opinion because consumers' own opinions - in the form of ratings, reviews, ratings - are published everywhere on the social network. And new digital technologies - SMS, e-mail, messaging services - simplify the communication process, allowing you to keep in touch with a huge number of interlocutors. Any user has a huge selection of platforms and communication tools. The virtual exchange of opinions takes a significant place in the communication of people and can be considered as a separate communication channel.

Thus, according to the survey of interviews, it was found that most respondents trust the recommendations of other consumers. In addition, more than half of the respondents learn about new products or services using the word of mouth.

"... when I hear from friends or acquaintances about a particular product, I certainly want to learn more about it." (Respondent № 3, November 7, 2020)

One of the respondents was asked the question "What do you think will be the most effective reviews that are published in communities or those that are given by people you trust?"

According to the interview results, statements aimed at a narrow audience with a high level of mutual trust have less reach but more impact than statements spread within disparate communities. He explained this by the fact that usually the circle of people whose opinion we trust largely overlaps with our main circle of communication on social networks. Therefore, dinner table advice continues to be so powerful. A person who has 500 friends on Instagram can easily ignore the advice of 490 of them. The real impact on him is a small but closely knit circle of close friends.

However, it is important for the respondents that the feedback on the product or service is positive, otherwise the purchase will not take place. According to the interviews conducted, many respondents are interested in the opinion of others before making a purchase. At the same time, a much smaller number of respondents share their own opinion about the purchased product. When asked if they like to give reviews and leave comments about the purchased product, only 3 people answered positively. The rest of the respondents said that they do not have the habit of advising strangers on social networks. They say they are not competent enough in such things, and their audience will not be interested in watching advice. This way, they don't want to litter their personal pages with unnecessary posts. Respondent № 1 believes that her advice may not work for everyone, or may cause disappointment in her recommendations for others. But if her acquaintances directly ask where she purchased this or that thing, she will gladly share the information. There are consumers who like to share only certain categories of products. These categories include restaurants, movies, and clothing. The respondents are happy to note the geolocation with the restaurant, leave a review about the film, and also mark the clothing brand in the photo or write it in the comments. But they avoid direct and imposed influence on others. Thus, they give the choice to others to pass by or take their advice.

There was also one respondent who stated that he did not want to share his recommendations and findings with other people. It is important for him that only he and no one else have it.

Otherwise, in his words, "the whole meaning of his individuality is lost."

7 respondents noted a special feeling of the impact of WOM when they purchased some kind of product for the first time or when it was about relatively expensive goods: in such a situation, they were inclined to collect more information about the upcoming purchase, more actively interested in the opinion of others, and also spend on reflection longer than usual. Research has also shown that when the recommendation comes from a trusted source — for example, when a trusted friend gives the advice — the purchase is more likely than when the information is received from sources with low impact.

“I always ask my girlfriend for advice on a particular product, after which I certainly go to buy it. […] I won't make a purchase until I'm sure of the source.” (Respondent № 15, 20 November 2020)

The most important factor is the personality of the person from whom the information comes:

respondents note that when receiving a recommendation, they should trust the source of information and be sure that their advisor is really well acquainted with the recommended product or service. The study did not identify a homogeneous consumer who influenced other people's purchasing decisions regardless of product category: on the contrary, consumers who are well versed in cars can influence other people's decisions when purchasing a car, but not when purchasing cosmetics. The same applies to influential people. Leading opinion characterizes the competence and trust in them from others. Thus, it was important for the respondents that the advising person understands the area he is advertising. According to respondents, influential consumers tend to give several times more product reviews than others.

However, their comments have less of an impact on their buying behaviour than the effect of word of mouth from other sources. Mostly influential people for those interviewed are bloggers with a multimillion audience, or stars. As mentioned earlier, respondents believe that their reviews are often insincere, but only based on earnings. Therefore, users of social networks primarily trust reviews of friends (including those posted on personal blogs), or authoritative sources of information (official reviews, news). They are wary of the opinions of unknown people and celebrities.

Moreover, during the interview, a question was asked about the possible impact of the recommendation on the audience of the respondents. 13 respondents stated that they have no influence on the audience. They can only increase brand awareness, but this does not always lead to a purchase. However, 2 respondents noted that they received goods or special codes from little-known brands for advertising purposes. In this way, they believe they can influence their audience and also have the competence to give their advice.

A small part of the respondents tend to initially pay maximum attention to negative reviews.

Only 5 respondents pay attention to this. At the same time, as the study shows, negative information is more important for them at the initial stage of making a decision on choosing a service or product, and positive information at the final stage. The reason for this was the negative experience when buying through social networks, often taught by such experience, first of all, respondents look for information about pitfalls, and only then about everything else.

Of course, one negative review is unlikely to cause concern, but a lot of negativity undoubtedly affects users' decisions. However, every brand has loyal customers who are a source of positive reviews that will outweigh potential negativity and create a positive atmosphere. Therefore, they try to be careful when reading reviews.