WOM and social media: Presaging future directions for research and practice

Abstract

AbstractWord of mouth (WOM) has become the focus of growing interest among marketing practitioners and consumers. However, the promises of WOM marketing are often oversold, and various assertions about the nature of WOM, its dynamics, antecedents, and consequences at times have been misstated in mass-mediated articles and books on the topic. In this introductory paper for the special issue on WOM and social media, we survey the current state of WOM knowledge and the role of WOM in contemporary marketing, reconsider common beliefs about the WOM process in an effort to separate WOM facts from fallacies, and presage some future directions and best practices in light of evolving online channels of WOM generation and transmission.Keywords:: word of mouthword-of-mouth marketingsocial mediaonline word of mouthconnected marketing Additional informationNotes on contributorsAllan J. KimmelAllan J. Kimmel is Professor of Marketing at ESCP Europe in Paris, France. His research and writing interests focus on consumer behavior, marketing and research ethics, connected marketing and word of mouth, and the relationship between people and products. He has published articles in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychology & Marketing, and American Psychologist, among others. His most recent books are Marketing Communication: New Approaches, Technologies, and Styles (Oxford University Press, 2005), Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research: Basic and Applied Perspectives (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Connecting With Consumers: Marketing for New Marketplace Realities (Oxford University Press, 2010), and Psychological Foundations of Marketing (Routledge, 2012).Philip J. KitchenPhilip J. Kitchen is Research Professor of Marketing, ESC Rennes School of Business, France. His research interests lie in the fields of marketing and corporate communications, marketing theory, and applications of marketing as seen from a consumer as compared to an organizational perspective. He has published academic papers in the Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Ethics, European Journal of Marketing, and in many other marketing and communication journals. His latest books include: Marketing Metaphors and Metamorphosis (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008), Integrated Brand Marketing and Measuring Returns (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2010), The Evolution of Integrated Marketing Communications: The Customer-Driven Marketplace (Routledge, 2011) with Schultz, D. and Patti, C.; The Dominant Influence of Marketing in the 21st Century: The Marketing Leviathan (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013).