營(yíng)銷(xiāo)分析外文文獻(xiàn)翻譯

1、<p><b>　　外文文獻(xiàn)及其譯稿</b></p><p>　　題 目 德芙巧克力在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)策略分析 </p><p>　　姓 名 </p><p>　　學(xué) 號(hào)

2、 </p><p>　　專業(yè)班級(jí) </p><p>　　所在學(xué)院 </p><p>　　指導(dǎo)教師（職稱） </p><p>&

3、lt;b>　　外文文獻(xiàn)</b></p><p>　　A marketer’s guide to behavioral economics </p><p>　　Apirl.2010 ? Ned Welch ? McKinsey Quarterly</p><p>　　Marketers have been applying behavioral e

4、conomics-often unknowingly for years. A more systematic approach can unlock significant value.</p><p>　　Long before behavioral economics had a name, marketers were using it. “Three for the price of two” offe

5、rs and extended-payment layaway plans became widespread because they worked—not because marketers had run scientific studies showing that people prefer a supposedly free incentive to an equivalent price discount or that

6、people often behave irrationally when thinking about future consequences. Yet despite marketing’s inadvertent leadership in using principles of behavioral economics, few compani</p><p>　　1. Make a product’s

7、cost less painful</p><p>　　In almost every purchasing decision, consumers have the option to do nothing: they can always save their money for another day. That’s why the marketer’s task is not just to beat c

8、ompetitors but also to persuade shoppers to part with their money in the first place. According to economic principle, the pain of payment should be identical for every dollar we spend. In marketing practice, however, ma

9、ny factors influence the way consumers value a dollar and how much pain they feel upon spending it.</p><p>　　Retailers know that allowing consumers to delay payment can dramatically increase their willingnes

10、s to buy. One reason delayed payments work is perfectly logical: the time value of money makes future payments less costly than immediate ones. But there is a second, less rational basis for this phenomenon. Payments, li

11、ke all losses, are viscerally unpleasant. But emotions experienced in the present—now—are especially important. Even small delays in payment can soften the immediate sting of parting</p><p>　　Another way to

12、minimize the pain of payment is to understand the ways “mental accounting” affects decision making. Consumers use different mental accounts for money they obtain from different sources rather than treating every dollar t

13、hey own equally, as economists believe they do, or should. Commonly observed mental accounts include windfall gains, pocket money, income, and savings. Windfall gains and pocket money are usually the easiest for consumer

14、s to spend. Income is less easy to relinquish</p><p>　　Technology creates new frontiers for harnessing mental accounting to benefit both consumers and marketers. A credit card marketer, for instance, could o

15、ffer a Web-based or mobile-device application that gives consumers real-time feedback on spending against predefined budget and revenue categories—green, say, for below budget, red for above budget, and so on. The budget

16、-conscious consumer is likely to find value in such accounts (although they are not strictly rational) and to concentrate spendi</p><p>　　2. Harness the power of a default option</p><p>　　The ev

17、idence is overwhelming that presenting one option as a default increases the chance it will be chosen. Defaults—what you get if you don’t actively make a choice—work partly by instilling a perception of ownership before

18、any purchase takes place, because the pleasure we derive from gains is less intense than the pain from equivalent losses. When we’re “given” something by default, it becomes more valued than it would have been otherwise—

19、and we are more loath to part with it.</p><p>　　Savvy marketers can harness these principles. An Italian telecom company, for example, increased the acceptance rate of an offer made to customers when they ca

20、lled to cancel their service. Originally, a script informed them that they would receive 100 free calls if they kept their plan. The script was reworded to say, “We have already credited your account with 100 calls—how c

21、ould you use those?” Many customers did not want to give up free talk time they felt they already owned.</p><p>　　Defaults work best when decision makers are too indifferent, confused, or conflicted to consi

22、der their options. That principle is particularly relevant in a world that’s increasingly awash with choices—a default eliminates the need to make a decision. The default, however, must also be a good choice for most peo

23、ple. Attempting to mislead customers will ultimately backfire by breeding distrust.</p><p>　　3. Don’t overwhelm consumers with choice</p><p>　　When a default option isn’t possible, marketers mus

24、t be wary of generating “choice overload,” which makes consumers less likely to purchase. In a classic field experiment, some grocery store shoppers were offered the chance to taste a selection of 24 jams, while others w

25、ere offered only 6. The greater variety drew more shoppers to sample the jams, but few made a purchase. By contrast, although fewer consumers stopped to taste the 6 jams on offer, sales from this group were more than fiv

26、e times h</p><p>　　Large in-store assortments work against marketers in at least two ways. First, these choices make consumers work harder to find their preferred option, a potential barrier to purchase. Sec

27、ond, large assortments increase the likelihood that each choice will become imbued with a “negative halo”—a heightened awareness that every option requires you to forgo desirable features available in some other product.

28、 Reducing the number of options makes people likelier not only to reach a decision but also </p><p>　　4. Position your preferred option carefully</p><p>　　Economists assume that everything has a

29、 price: your willingness to pay may be higher than mine, but each of us has a maximum price we’d be willing to pay. How marketers position a product, though, can change the equation. Consider the experience of the jewelr

30、y store owner whose consignment of turquoise jewelry wasn’t selling. Displaying it more prominently didn’t achieve anything, nor did increased efforts by her sales staff. Exasperated, she gave her sales manager instructi

31、ons to mark the lot d</p><p>　　The power of this kind of relative positioning explains why marketers sometimes benefit from offering a few clearly inferior options. Even if they don’t sell, they may increase

32、 sales of slightly better products the store really wants to move. Similarly, many restaurants find that the second-most-expensive bottle of wine is very popular—and so is the second-cheapest. Customers who buy the forme

33、r feel they are getting something special but not going over the top. Those who buy the latter feel they</p><p>　　Another way to position choices relates not to the products a company offers but to the way i

34、t displays them. Our research suggests, for instance, that ice cream shoppers in grocery stores look at the brand first, flavor second, and price last. Organizing supermarket aisles according to way consumers prefer to b

35、uy specific products makes customers both happier and less likely to base their purchase decisions on price—allowing retailers to sell higher-priced, higher-margin products. (This explain</p><p>　　Marketers

36、have long been aware that irrationality helps shape consumer behavior. Behavioral economics can make that irrationality more predictable. Understanding exactly how small changes to the details of an offer can influence t

37、he way people react to it is crucial to unlocking significant value—often at very low cost.</p><p>　　營(yíng)銷(xiāo)人員的行為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)指南</p><p>　　多年來(lái)，營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商一直在運(yùn)用行為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，但往往是不自覺(jué)地運(yùn)用。一種更系統(tǒng)的做法則能為營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商開(kāi)發(fā)出巨大的價(jià)值。</p><p&g

38、t;　　早在行為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)成為一門(mén)學(xué)說(shuō)之前，營(yíng)銷(xiāo)者就已經(jīng)在使用它了?！百I(mǎi)三送一”的招攬和延長(zhǎng)付款時(shí)間的“先用后付”計(jì)劃已被商家廣泛采用，之所以這樣，是因?yàn)檫@些做法很有效，而并不是因?yàn)闋I(yíng)銷(xiāo)商做了什么科學(xué)研究，證明了人們更喜歡得到看似免費(fèi)的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，不那么喜歡同等程度的價(jià)格折扣，或是證明了人們?cè)诳紤]將來(lái)的后果時(shí)常常表現(xiàn)得不理性。然而，盡管營(yíng)銷(xiāo)在運(yùn)用行為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)原理方面無(wú)意間走到了前頭，但卻很少有商家能夠以系統(tǒng)的方法來(lái)運(yùn)用這些原理。本文重點(diǎn)介紹了四種實(shí)

39、用的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)技巧，它們應(yīng)成為每一位營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商不可缺少的工具。</p><p>　　1. 減輕人們花錢(qián)買(mǎi)產(chǎn)品時(shí)的心痛感</p><p>　　幾乎在每一項(xiàng)購(gòu)買(mǎi)決策中，消費(fèi)者都可以選擇不買(mǎi)：他們總是可以把錢(qián)留下來(lái)，改日再買(mǎi)。正因?yàn)槿绱耍瑺I(yíng)銷(xiāo)商的任務(wù)不僅僅是打敗競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，而且還要說(shuō)服購(gòu)物者從一開(kāi)始就掏出錢(qián)來(lái)。根據(jù)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)原理，對(duì)于我們花出的每一元錢(qián)，支付的痛感應(yīng)該都是同樣的劇烈。不過(guò)，在營(yíng)銷(xiāo)實(shí)踐中，許多因素

40、會(huì)影響人們?nèi)绾慰创辉X(qián)的價(jià)值，影響他們?cè)诨ㄟ@一元錢(qián)時(shí)痛感的程度。</p><p>　　零售商都知道，讓消費(fèi)者推遲付款的安排能極大地提高買(mǎi)家的購(gòu)買(mǎi)意愿。推遲付款之所以有效，其中的一個(gè)原因是非常符合邏輯的：金錢(qián)的時(shí)間價(jià)值使得將來(lái)付款比立即付款更便宜。但這種現(xiàn)象的背后，還有另外一個(gè)不是那么理性的原因。付款，就像所有其他損失一樣，讓人本能地覺(jué)得不爽。但此時(shí)此刻的情感體驗(yàn)是極其重要的。所以，即使是略微推遲付款，也能減輕馬

41、上拿錢(qián)出去的那種刺痛感，從而消除阻止人們購(gòu)買(mǎi)的一個(gè)大障礙。</p><p>　　另一個(gè)能夠最大程度地減輕付款痛苦的方法是，了解“心理會(huì)計(jì)”影響購(gòu)買(mǎi)決策的各種方式。消費(fèi)者會(huì)將他們從不同來(lái)源獲得的錢(qián)劃分到不同的“心理賬戶”中，而不是像經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家認(rèn)為他們會(huì)或應(yīng)該的那樣，平等地看待所擁有的每一元錢(qián)。常見(jiàn)的“心理賬戶”有意外之財(cái)、零花錢(qián)、收入和儲(chǔ)蓄等。通常，意外之財(cái)和零花錢(qián)是消費(fèi)者最容易花出去的錢(qián)。收入不太容易花出去，而花掉

42、儲(chǔ)蓄是最難的。</p><p>　　技術(shù)創(chuàng)造了一些利用“心理會(huì)計(jì)”的新領(lǐng)域，讓消費(fèi)者和營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商都受益。例如，信用卡營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商可以提供一項(xiàng)基于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)或移動(dòng)設(shè)備的應(yīng)用，向消費(fèi)者實(shí)時(shí)反饋支出與預(yù)先確定的預(yù)算及收入類(lèi)別的比較情況，比如說(shuō)，綠色表示低于預(yù)算，紅色表示超出預(yù)算等等。這些賬戶的設(shè)置并不完全符合理性，但對(duì)預(yù)算十分在意的消費(fèi)者可能會(huì)覺(jué)得這類(lèi)賬戶很有價(jià)值，并且把支出集中在利用這類(lèi)賬戶的卡上。這樣，不僅能增加發(fā)卡公司的交易費(fèi)

43、收入和融資收益，還能讓發(fā)卡公司更好地了解其客戶的總體財(cái)務(wù)狀況。當(dāng)然，這樣一項(xiàng)應(yīng)用程序最終能夠?yàn)槟切┫Ｍ咳霝槌龅南M(fèi)者做出真正的貢獻(xiàn)。</p><p>　　2. 利用默認(rèn)選擇的力量</p><p>　　有壓倒多數(shù)的證據(jù)表明，如果提供一種選擇作為默認(rèn)選擇，會(huì)提高這種選擇被選中的可能性。默認(rèn)選擇是人們不用費(fèi)心勞神就能得到的選擇，它起作用的部分原因在于，讓人們?cè)谌魏钨?gòu)買(mǎi)發(fā)生之前產(chǎn)生了一種擁有感，

44、因?yàn)槲覀儚氖斋@中得到的快樂(lè)沒(méi)有從等價(jià)的失去中感受的痛苦那么強(qiáng)烈。當(dāng)我們被默認(rèn)地“給予”某樣?xùn)|西時(shí)，它就變得比原來(lái)沒(méi)有被“給予”時(shí)更有價(jià)值，因此，我們更不愿意失去它。</p><p>　　精明的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商可以利用這些原理。例如，一家意大利電信公司在顧客打電話要取消服務(wù)時(shí)，卻成功地提高了向顧客提供該服務(wù)的接受率。一開(kāi)始，顧客會(huì)聽(tīng)到一段錄音告訴他們說(shuō)，如果他們繼續(xù)接受服務(wù)，則可獲得100次免費(fèi)電話。后來(lái)，這段錄音改為：“我

45、們已經(jīng)向您的賬戶贈(zèng)送100次電話，您打算如何使用呢？”結(jié)果，許多顧客不想放棄他們覺(jué)得自己已經(jīng)擁有的免費(fèi)通話時(shí)間。</p><p>　　當(dāng)決策者在考慮他們的選擇時(shí)覺(jué)得無(wú)所謂、困惑或矛盾時(shí)，默認(rèn)選擇最能發(fā)揮作用。在一個(gè)充斥著大量選擇的世界里，這個(gè)原理尤其有用，一項(xiàng)默認(rèn)選擇可以讓人們不必再費(fèi)力作出決定。不過(guò)，對(duì)大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)默認(rèn)選擇必須是一個(gè)好的選擇。如果試圖誤導(dǎo)顧客，最后只會(huì)適得其反，導(dǎo)致顧客的不信任。</

46、p><p>　　3. 切勿讓選擇壓垮消費(fèi)者</p><p>　　如果不可能給出一項(xiàng)默認(rèn)選擇，營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商必須警惕“選擇超載”，這會(huì)降低消費(fèi)者購(gòu)買(mǎi)的可能性。在一個(gè)經(jīng)典的現(xiàn)場(chǎng)實(shí)驗(yàn)中，某家食品店的顧客可以品嘗24種果醬，而另一些食品店的顧客只可以品嘗6種。24種果醬吸引了更多顧客去品嘗，但購(gòu)買(mǎi)的人卻很少。相比之下，雖然停下來(lái)品嘗6種果醬的顧客相對(duì)較少，但該群體貢獻(xiàn)的銷(xiāo)售額卻高出5倍以上。</p>

47、;<p>　　店內(nèi)品種繁多至少在兩個(gè)方面對(duì)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商不利。首先，太多的選擇讓消費(fèi)者更難找到自己喜歡的品種，對(duì)購(gòu)買(mǎi)造成潛在阻礙。其次，大量的品種會(huì)增加每個(gè)選擇都被“負(fù)面光環(huán)”籠罩的可能性，“負(fù)面光環(huán)”是一種被強(qiáng)化的感覺(jué)，好像每種選擇都會(huì)讓你放棄一些你想要的而且其他某個(gè)產(chǎn)品可以提供的功能。減少選擇的數(shù)量不僅會(huì)提高人們做出決定的可能性，而且會(huì)讓人們對(duì)自己的選擇感覺(jué)更滿意。</p><p>　　4. 精心定位首

48、推品種</p><p>　　經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家認(rèn)為，每一種東西都有一個(gè)價(jià)格：你的花錢(qián)意愿也許比我高，但我們每個(gè)人都有一個(gè)愿意支付的最高價(jià)格。然而，營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商定位一個(gè)產(chǎn)品的方式卻有可能打破這個(gè)公式。以一家珠寶店老板的經(jīng)歷為例，在她店里寄售的綠松石珠寶賣(mài)得不好。把這款珠寶放在顯著位置也沒(méi)有起什么作用，銷(xiāo)售人員努力推銷(xiāo)也無(wú)濟(jì)于事。一怒之下，她指示銷(xiāo)售經(jīng)理將這批珠寶的標(biāo)價(jià)降低一半，然后就出門(mén)去購(gòu)物旅行了。當(dāng)她回來(lái)時(shí)，她發(fā)現(xiàn)銷(xiāo)售經(jīng)理看錯(cuò)

49、了她留下的便條，陰差陽(yáng)錯(cuò)地把價(jià)格調(diào)高了一倍，結(jié)果把這批珠寶都賣(mài)掉了。在這個(gè)例子中，購(gòu)物者顯然不是根據(jù)某個(gè)絕對(duì)的最高價(jià)格來(lái)購(gòu)買(mǎi)的。相反，他們根據(jù)價(jià)格來(lái)推斷珠寶的質(zhì)量，從而產(chǎn)生特定環(huán)境下的一種花錢(qián)意愿。</p><p>　　這種相對(duì)定位的力量解釋了為何營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商有時(shí)候能夠從提供幾種明顯低劣的產(chǎn)品選擇中獲益。即使這些品種賣(mài)得不好，但它們可以增加那些稍微好一些產(chǎn)品的銷(xiāo)量，而后者正是商店想要賣(mài)出去的品種。類(lèi)似地，許多餐館發(fā)現(xiàn)第

50、二貴的瓶裝紅酒非常受歡迎，還有第二便宜的瓶裝紅酒也是這樣。購(gòu)買(mǎi)前者的顧客覺(jué)得自己得到某種特別的東西，但又不至于太過(guò)分。購(gòu)買(mǎi)后者的顧客覺(jué)得自己買(mǎi)到了便宜貨，但又不顯得小氣。索尼公司在耳機(jī)產(chǎn)品上也發(fā)現(xiàn)了同樣的現(xiàn)象：如果還有另一種更貴的產(chǎn)品，消費(fèi)者就會(huì)按照特定價(jià)格購(gòu)買(mǎi)這些產(chǎn)品，然而，同樣是這種特定價(jià)格，如果這些產(chǎn)品是最貴的，消費(fèi)者就不會(huì)購(gòu)買(mǎi)。</p><p>　　另一種定位各種選擇的方式與企業(yè)提供哪些產(chǎn)品無(wú)關(guān)，而是與產(chǎn)

51、品的陳列方式有關(guān)。例如，我們的研究表明，食品超市里的冰淇淋購(gòu)買(mǎi)者首先看品牌，然后看口味，最后才是看價(jià)格。根據(jù)顧客喜歡購(gòu)買(mǎi)的產(chǎn)品來(lái)布置超市的通道，這樣不僅讓顧客更愉快，而且降低了顧客根據(jù)價(jià)格來(lái)作出購(gòu)買(mǎi)決策的可能性，從而使商家能夠賣(mài)出價(jià)格和利潤(rùn)更高的產(chǎn)品。這解釋了為什么貨架很少按照商品價(jià)格來(lái)布置。相比之下，人們?cè)谫?gòu)買(mǎi)恒溫器時(shí)，一般首先看價(jià)格，然后是功能，最后看品牌。因此，這種商品的布置應(yīng)采取截然不同的方式。</p><p

52、>　　營(yíng)銷(xiāo)商很早就知道，消費(fèi)者的行為受到非理性因素的影響。行為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)能夠提高非理性因素的可預(yù)測(cè)性。如果能夠確切了解產(chǎn)品細(xì)節(jié)上的小小變動(dòng)如何影響人們對(duì)它的反應(yīng)，則往往能夠以很低的代價(jià)釋放出巨大的價(jià)值。</p><p>　　A new way to measure word-of mouth marketing</p><p>　　April.2010 ? Jacques Bughin,

53、 Jonathan Doogan, and Ole Jrgen Vetvik</p><p>　　? McKinsey Quarterly</p><p>　　Consumers have always valued opinions expressed directly to them. Marketers may spend millions of dollars on elabora

54、tely conceived advertising campaigns, yet often what really makes up a consumer’s mind is not only simple but also free: a word-of-mouth recommendation from a trusted source. As consumers overwhelmed by product choices t

55、une out the ever-growing barrage of traditional marketing, word of mouth cuts through the noise quickly and effectively.</p><p>　　Indeed, word of mouth1 is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all p

56、urchasing decisions. Its influence is greatest when consumers are buying a product for the first time or when products are relatively expensive, factors that tend to make people conduct more research, seek more opinions,

57、 and deliberate longer than they otherwise would. And its influence will probably grow: the digital revolution has amplified and accelerated its reach to the point where word of mouth is no longer an act</p><p

58、>　　As online communities increase in size, number, and character, marketers have come to recognize word of mouth’s growing importance. But measuring and managing it is far from easy. We believe that word of mouth can

59、be dissected to understand exactly what makes it effective and that its impact can be measured using what we call “word-of-mouth equity”—an index of a brand’s power to generate messages that influence the consumer’s deci

60、sion to purchase. Understanding how and why messages work allows m</p><p>　　A consumer-driven world</p><p>　　The sheer volume of information available today has dramatically altered the balance

61、of power between companies and consumers. As consumers have become overloaded, they have become increasingly skeptical about traditional company-driven advertising and marketing and increasingly prefer to make purchasing

62、 decisions largely independent of what companies tell them about products.</p><p>　　This tectonic power shift toward consumers reflects the way people now make purchasing decisions.2 Once consumers make a de

63、cision to buy a product, they start with an initial consideration set of brands formed through product experience, recommendations, or awareness-building marketing. Those brands, and others, are actively evaluated as con

64、sumers gather product information from a variety of sources and decide which brand to purchase. Their post-sales experience then informs their next purchasin</p><p>　　It’s also the most disruptive factor. Wo

65、rd of mouth can prompt a consumer to consider a brand or product in a way that incremental advertising spending simply cannot. It’s also not a one-hit wonder. The right messages resonate and expand within interested netw

66、orks, affecting brand perceptions, purchase rates, and market share. The rise of online communities and communication has dramatically increased the potential for significant and far-reaching momentum effects. In the mob

67、ile-phone market, fo</p><p>　　Understanding word of mouth</p><p>　　While word of mouth is undeniably complex and has a multitude of potential origins and motivations, we have identified three fo

68、rms of word of mouth that marketers should understand: experiential, consequential, and intentional.</p><p>　　Experiential</p><p>　　Experiential word of mouth is the most common and powerful for

69、m, typically accounting for 50 to 80 percent of word-of-mouth activity in any given product category. It results from a consumer’s direct experience with a product or service, largely when that experience deviates from w

70、hat’s expected. Consumers rarely complain about or praise a company when they receive what they expect.) Complaints when airlines lose luggage are classic example of experiential word of mouth, which adversely affects &l

71、t;/p><p>　　Consequential</p><p>　　Marketing activities also can trigger word of mouth. The most common is what we call consequential word of mouth, which occurs when consumers directly exposed to t

72、raditional marketing campaigns pass on messages about them or brands they publicize. The impact of those messages on consumers is often stronger than the direct effect of advertisements, because marketing campaigns that

73、trigger positive word of mouth have comparatively higher campaign reach and influence. Marketers need to consider bot</p><p>　　Intentional</p><p>　　A less common form of word of mouth is intenti

74、onal—for example, when marketers use celebrity endorsements to trigger positive buzz for product launches. Few companies invest in generating intentional word of mouth, partly because its effects are difficult to measure

75、 and because many marketers are unsure if they can successfully execute intentional word of-mouth campaigns. What marketers need for all three forms of word of mouth is a way to understand and measure its impact and fina

76、ncial ramifica</p><p>　　Word-of-mouth equity</p><p>　　A starting point has been to count the number of recommendations and dissuasions for a given product. There’s an appealing power and simplic

77、ity to this approach, but also a challenge: it’s difficult for marketers to account for variability in the power of different kinds of word-of-mouth messages. After all, a consumer is significantly more likely to buy a p

78、roduct as a result of a recommendation made by a family member than by a stranger.</p><p>　　These two kinds of recommendations constitute a single message, yet the difference in their impact on the receiver’

79、s behavior is immense. In fact, our research shows that a high-impact recommendation—from a trusted friend conveying a relevant message, for example—is up to 50 times more likely to trigger a purchase than is a low-impac

80、t recommendation.</p><p>　　To assess the impact of these different kinds of recommendations, we developed a way to calculate what we call word-of-mouth equity. It represents the average sales impact of a bra

81、nd message multiplied by the number of word-of-mouth messages. By looking at the impact—as well as the volume—of these messages, this metric lets a marketer accurately test their effect on sales and market share for bran

82、ds, individual campaigns, and companies as a whole. That impact—in other words, the ability of any o</p><p>　　What’s said is the primary driver of word-of-mouth impact. Across most product categories, we fou

83、nd that the content of a message must address important product or service features if it is to influence consumer decisions. In the mobile-phone category, for example, design is more important than battery life. In skin

84、 care, packaging and ingredients create more powerful word of mouth than do emotional messages about how a product makes people feel. Marketers tend to build campaigns around emotiona</p><p>　　The second cri

85、tical driver is the identity of the person who sends a message: the word-of mouth receiver must trust the sender and believe that he or she really knows the product or service in question. Our research does not identify

86、a homogenous group of consumers who are influential across categories: consumers who know cars might influence car buyers but not consumers shopping for beauty products. About 8 to 10 percent of consumers are what we cal

87、l influentials, whose common factor is trust a</p><p>　　Finally, the environment where word of mouth circulates is crucial to the power of messages. Typically, messages passed within tight, trusted networks

88、have less reach but greater impact than those circulated through dispersed communities—in part, because there’s usually a high correlation between people whose opinions we trust and the members of networks we most value.

89、 That’s why old-fashioned kitchen table recommendations and their online equivalents remain so important. After all, a person wit</p><p>　　Word-of-mouth equity empowers companies by allowing them to understa

90、nd word of mouth’s relative impact on brand and product performance. While marketers have always known that the impact can be significant, they may be surprised to learn just how powerful it really is. When Apple’s iPhon

91、e was launched in Germany, for example, its share of word-of-mouth volume in the mobile-phone category—or how many consumers were talking about it—was about 10 percent, or a third less than that of the market lea</p&g

92、t;<p>　　The flexibility of word-of-mouth equity allows us to gauge the word-of-mouth impact of companies, products, and brands regardless of the category or industry. And because it measures performance rather tha

93、n the sheer volume of messages, it can be used to identify what’s driving—and hurting—word-of-mouth impact. Both insights are critical if marketers are to convert knowledge into power.</p><p>　　Harnessing wo

94、rd of mouth</p><p>　　The rewards of pursuing excellence in word-of-mouth marketing are huge, and it can deliver a sustainable and significant competitive edge few other marketing approaches can match. Yet ma

95、ny marketers avoid it. Some worry that it remains immature as a marketing discipline compared with the highly sophisticated management of marketing in media such as television and newspapers. Others are concerned that th

96、ey can’t draw on extensive data or elaborate marketing tools fine-tuned over decades. For thos</p><p>　　The starting point for managing word of mouth is understanding which dimensions of word-of-mouth equity

97、 are most important to a product category: the who, the what, or the where. In skincare, for example, it’s the what; in retail banks, the who. Word-of-mouth equity analysis can detail the precise nature of a category’s i