市場營銷外文翻譯---衡量口碑營銷的新方法

1、<p>　　A new way to measure word-of mouth marketing</p><p>　　April.2010 ? Jacques Bughin, Jonathan Doogan, and Ole Jrgen Vetvik</p><p>　　? McKinsey Quarterly</p><p>　　Consumers

2、have always valued opinions expressed directly to them. Marketers may spend millions of dollars on elaborately conceived advertising campaigns, yet often what really makes up a consumer’s mind is not only simple but also

3、 free: a word-of-mouth recommendation from a trusted source. As consumers overwhelmed by product choices tune out the ever-growing barrage of traditional marketing, word of mouth cuts through the noise quickly and effect

4、ively.</p><p>　　Indeed, word of mouth1 is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions. Its influence is greatest when consumers are buying a product for the first time or when prod

5、ucts are relatively expensive, factors that tend to make people conduct more research, seek more opinions, and deliberate longer than they otherwise would. And its influence will probably grow: the digital revolution has

6、 amplified and accelerated its reach to the point where word of mouth is no longer an act</p><p>　　As online communities increase in size, number, and character, marketers have come to recognize word of mout

7、h’s growing importance. But measuring and managing it is far from easy. We believe that word of mouth can be dissected to understand exactly what makes it effective and that its impact can be measured using what we call

8、“word-of-mouth equity”—an index of a brand’s power to generate messages that influence the consumer’s decision to purchase. Understanding how and why messages work allows m</p><p>　　A consumer-driven world&l

9、t;/p><p>　　The sheer volume of information available today has dramatically altered the balance of power between companies and consumers. As consumers have become overloaded, they have become increasingly skept

10、ical about traditional company-driven advertising and marketing and increasingly prefer to make purchasing decisions largely independent of what companies tell them about products.</p><p>　　This tectonic pow

11、er shift toward consumers reflects the way people now make purchasing decisions.2 Once consumers make a decision to buy a product, they start with an initial consideration set of brands formed through product experience,

12、 recommendations, or awareness-building marketing. Those brands, and others, are actively evaluated as consumers gather product information from a variety of sources and decide which brand to purchase. Their post-sales e

13、xperience then informs their next purchasin</p><p>　　It’s also the most disruptive factor. Word of mouth can prompt a consumer to consider a brand or product in a way that incremental advertising spending si

14、mply cannot. It’s also not a one-hit wonder. The right messages resonate and expand within interested networks, affecting brand perceptions, purchase rates, and market share. The rise of online communities and communicat

15、ion has dramatically increased the potential for significant and far-reaching momentum effects. In the mobile-phone market, fo</p><p>　　Understanding word of mouth</p><p>　　While word of mouth i

16、s undeniably complex and has a multitude of potential origins and motivations, we have identified three forms of word of mouth that marketers should understand: experiential, consequential, and intentional.</p>&l

17、t;p>　　Experiential</p><p>　　Experiential word of mouth is the most common and powerful form, typically accounting for 50 to 80 percent of word-of-mouth activity in any given product category. It results f

18、rom a consumer’s direct experience with a product or service, largely when that experience deviates from what’s expected. Consumers rarely complain about or praise a company when they receive what they expect.) Complaint

19、s when airlines lose luggage are classic example of experiential word of mouth, which adversely affects </p><p>　　Consequential</p><p>　　Marketing activities also can trigger word of mouth. The

20、most common is what we call consequential word of mouth, which occurs when consumers directly exposed to traditional marketing campaigns pass on messages about them or brands they publicize. The impact of those messages

21、on consumers is often stronger than the direct effect of advertisements, because marketing campaigns that trigger positive word of mouth have comparatively higher campaign reach and influence. Marketers need to consider

22、bot</p><p>　　Intentional</p><p>　　A less common form of word of mouth is intentional—for example, when marketers use celebrity endorsements to trigger positive buzz for product launches. Few com

23、panies invest in generating intentional word of mouth, partly because its effects are difficult to measure and because many marketers are unsure if they can successfully execute intentional word of-mouth campaigns. What

24、marketers need for all three forms of word of mouth is a way to understand and measure its impact and financial ramifica</p><p>　　Word-of-mouth equity</p><p>　　A starting point has been to count

25、 the number of recommendations and dissuasions for a given product. There’s an appealing power and simplicity to this approach, but also a challenge: it’s difficult for marketers to account for variability in the power o

26、f different kinds of word-of-mouth messages. After all, a consumer is significantly more likely to buy a product as a result of a recommendation made by a family member than by a stranger.</p><p>　　These two

27、 kinds of recommendations constitute a single message, yet the difference in their impact on the receiver’s behavior is immense. In fact, our research shows that a high-impact recommendation—from a trusted friend conveyi

28、ng a relevant message, for example—is up to 50 times more likely to trigger a purchase than is a low-impact recommendation.</p><p>　　To assess the impact of these different kinds of recommendations, we devel

29、oped a way to calculate what we call word-of-mouth equity. It represents the average sales impact of a brand message multiplied by the number of word-of-mouth messages. By looking at the impact—as well as the volume—of t

30、hese messages, this metric lets a marketer accurately test their effect on sales and market share for brands, individual campaigns, and companies as a whole. That impact—in other words, the ability of any o</p>&l

31、t;p>　　What’s said is the primary driver of word-of-mouth impact. Across most product categories, we found that the content of a message must address important product or service features if it is to influence consumer

32、 decisions. In the mobile-phone category, for example, design is more important than battery life. In skin care, packaging and ingredients create more powerful word of mouth than do emotional messages about how a product

33、 makes people feel. Marketers tend to build campaigns around emotiona</p><p>　　The second critical driver is the identity of the person who sends a message: the word-of mouth receiver must trust the sender a

34、nd believe that he or she really knows the product or service in question. Our research does not identify a homogenous group of consumers who are influential across categories: consumers who know cars might influence car

35、 buyers but not consumers shopping for beauty products. About 8 to 10 percent of consumers are what we call influentials, whose common factor is trust a</p><p>　　Finally, the environment where word of mouth

36、circulates is crucial to the power of messages. Typically, messages passed within tight, trusted networks have less reach but greater impact than those circulated through dispersed communities—in part, because there’s us

37、ually a high correlation between people whose opinions we trust and the members of networks we most value. That’s why old-fashioned kitchen table recommendations and their online equivalents remain so important. After al

38、l, a person wit</p><p>　　Word-of-mouth equity empowers companies by allowing them to understand word of mouth’s relative impact on brand and product performance. While marketers have always known that the im

39、pact can be significant, they may be surprised to learn just how powerful it really is. When Apple’s iPhone was launched in Germany, for example, its share of word-of-mouth volume in the mobile-phone category—or how many

40、 consumers were talking about it—was about 10 percent, or a third less than that of the market lea</p><p>　　The flexibility of word-of-mouth equity allows us to gauge the word-of-mouth impact of companies, p

41、roducts, and brands regardless of the category or industry. And because it measures performance rather than the sheer volume of messages, it can be used to identify what’s driving—and hurting—word-of-mouth impact. Both i

42、nsights are critical if marketers are to convert knowledge into power.</p><p>　　Harnessing word of mouth</p><p>　　The rewards of pursuing excellence in word-of-mouth marketing are huge, and it c

43、an deliver a sustainable and significant competitive edge few other marketing approaches can match. Yet many marketers avoid it. Some worry that it remains immature as a marketing discipline compared with the highly soph

44、isticated management of marketing in media such as television and newspapers. Others are concerned that they can’t draw on extensive data or elaborate marketing tools fine-tuned over decades. For thos</p><p>

45、;　　The starting point for managing word of mouth is understanding which dimensions of word-of-mouth equity are most important to a product category: the who, the what, or the where. In skincare, for example, it’s the wha

46、t; in retail banks, the who. Word-of-mouth equity analysis can detail the precise nature of a category’s influentials and pinpoint the highest-impact messages, contexts, and networks. Equipped with these insights, compan

47、ies can then work on generating positive word of mouth, using t</p><p>　　Although the importance of these triggers varies category by category, experiential sources are the most important across them. Harnes

48、sing experiential word of mouth is fundamentally about providing customers with the opportunity to share positive experiences and making the story relatable and relevant to the audience. Some companies, such as Miele and

49、 Lego, build buzz around products before launch and work to have early, highly influential adopters by involving consumers in product development,</p><p>　　Most companies actively use customer satisfaction i

50、nsights when developing new products and services. Yet a satisfied customer base may not be enough to create buzz. To create positive word of mouth that actually has impact, the customer experience must not only deviate

51、significantly from expectations but also deviate on the dimensions that matter to the customer and that he or she is likely to talk about. For instance, while battery life is a crucial driver of satisfaction for mobile-h

52、andset co</p><p>　　Managing consequential word of mouth involves using the insights provided by word-of mouth equity to maximize the return on marketing activities. By understanding the word of- mouth effect

53、s of the range of channels and messages employed and allocating marketing activities accordingly, companies can equip consumers to spread marketing messages and drive their reach and impact. In fact, McKinsey research sh

54、ows that marketing-induced consumer-to-consumer word of mouth generates more than twice the </p><p>　　Two things supercharge the creation of positive consequential word of mouth: interactivity and creativity

55、. They are interrelated, and particularly important for brands in relatively low-innovation categories that often struggle to gain consumer attention. One example of a company successfully harnessing this power is the UK

56、 confectioner Cadbury, whose “Glass and a Half Full” advertising campaign used creative, thoughtful, and integrated online and traditional marketing to spur consumer interacti</p><p>　　The campaign began wit

57、h a television commercial featuring a gorilla playing drums to an iconic Phil Collins song. The bizarre juxtaposition was an immediate hit. The concept so engaged consumers that they were willing to go online, view the c

58、ommercial, and create amateur versions of their own, triggering a torrent of YouTube imitations. Within three months of the advertisement’s appearance, the video had been viewed more than six million times online, year-o

59、n-year sales of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk c</p><p>　　Intentional word-of-mouth campaigns revolve around identifying influentials who become brand and product advocates. Of course, companies can’t precisely contro

60、l what consumers tell others. But ambitious marketers can use word-of-mouth equity insights to shift from consequential to intentional campaigning.</p><p>　　The type of campaign that companies choose to adop

61、t depends on the degree to which marketers can find and target influentials. Marketers capable of undertaking one-to-one marketing—such as mobile-phone operators—are uniquely positioned to execute controlled and effectiv

62、e intentional word-of-mouth campaigns. Mobile carriers have granular customer data that can precisely locate influentials who know the category, talk to many people, and provide them with trusted opinions. That means mes

63、sages can </p><p>　　Companies unable to target influentials precisely must take a different approach. While Red Bull, for example, can’t send text messages to specific consumers, it has successfully deployed

64、 science to orchestrate effective intentional word-of-mouth campaigns. After identifying influentials among its different target segments, the energy-drink company ensures that celebrities and other opinion makers seed t

65、he right messages among consumers, often through events. While it can’t be sure who will atte</p><p>　　Marketers have always been aware of the effect of word of mouth, and there is clearly an art to effectiv

66、e word-of-mouth campaigning. Yet the science behind word-of-mouth equity helps reveal how to hone and deploy that art: it shows which messages consumers are likely to pass on and the impact of those messages, allowing ma

67、rketers to estimate the tangible effect word of mouth has on brand equity and sales. These insights are essential for companies that want to harness the potential of word of mo</p><p>　　衡量口碑營銷的新方法</p>

68、<p><b>　　了解口碑</b></p><p>　　口碑無疑頗為復雜，并擁有多種可能的根源和動機，而我們則確定了營銷者應該了解的三種形式的口碑：經驗性口碑、繼發(fā)性口碑，以及有意識口碑。</p><p><b>　　經驗性口碑</b></p><p>　　經驗性口碑是最常見、最有力的形式，通常在任何給定的產

69、品類別中都占到口碑活動的50%～80%。它來源于消費者對某種產品或服務的直接經驗，在很大程度上是在經驗偏離消費者的預期時所產生的。（當產品或服務符合消費者的預期時，他們很少會投訴或表揚某一企業(yè)。）航空公司丟失行李引起的投訴，是經驗性口碑的典型例子，它會對品牌感受產生不利影響，并最終影響品牌價值，從而降低受眾對傳統營銷活動的接受程度，并有損出自其他來源的正面口碑的效果。反過來，正面的口碑則會讓產品或服務順風滿帆。</p>&

70、lt;p><b>　　繼發(fā)性口碑</b></p><p>　　營銷活動也會引發(fā)口碑傳播。最常見的就是我們所稱的繼發(fā)性口碑：當消費者直接感受傳統的營銷活動傳遞給他們的信息或所宣傳的品牌時形成的口碑。這些消息對消費者的影響通常比廣告的直接影響更強，因為引發(fā)正面口碑傳播的營銷活動的覆蓋范圍以及影響力相對來說都會更大。營銷者在決定何種信息及媒體組合能夠產生最大的投資回報時，需要考慮口碑的直接效

71、應以及傳遞效應。</p><p><b>　　有意識口碑</b></p><p>　　不像前兩種口碑形式那么常見的另一種口碑是有意識口碑——例如，營銷者可以利用名人代言來為產品發(fā)布上市營造正面的氣氛。對制造有意識口碑進行投資的企業(yè)是少數，部分原因在于，其效果難以衡量，許多營銷商不能確信，他們能否成功地開展有意識口碑的推廣活動。</p><p>

72、　　對于這三種形式的口碑，營銷商都需要以適當的方式從正反兩個方面了解和衡量其影響和財務結果。</p><p><b>　　口碑價值</b></p><p>　　計算價值始于對某一產品的推薦及勸阻次數進行計數。這種方法有一定的吸引力并且比較簡單，但是也存在一大挑戰(zhàn)：營銷商難以解釋說明不同種類的口碑信息的影響可變性。顯然，對于消費者來說，由于家人的推薦而購買某產品的可能性

73、要顯著高于陌生人的推薦。這兩種推薦可以傳達同樣的信息，而它們對接收者的影響卻不可同日而語。事實上，我們的研究表明，影響力高的推薦（例如，來自于所信任的朋友傳達的相關信息）導致購買行為的可能性，是低影響力推薦的50倍。</p><p>　　為了評估這些不同種類的推薦的影響，我們開發(fā)了一種方法來計算我們所說的口碑價值，它用一條品牌信息的平均銷售影響力來乘以品牌信息的數量。這個指標既考查這些信息的影響力，也考查其總量，

74、可以讓營銷者準確地測試這些信息對品牌、單項推廣活動以及整個企業(yè)的銷售和市場份額的影響。這種影響（也就是任何口頭推薦或勸阻能夠改變購買行為的能力）反映了信息所涉及的內容、何人傳遞的信息、以及在何地所說。這種影響會因產品類別而異。</p><p>　　信息所傳遞的內容是口碑產生影響力的首要推動因素。我們都發(fā)現，在多數產品類別中，如果要影響消費者的決策，信息的內容必須針對產品或服務的重要特性和功能。例如，在手機類產品中

75、，設計比電池壽命更重要。在皮膚護理產品中，關于包裝和成份構成的口碑比有關產品為人們帶來的感覺這類情感信息更有影響力。營銷商往往圍繞情感定位來營造推廣活動，然而，我們發(fā)現，消費者實際上傾向于對功能信息進行討論并形成口碑。</p><p>　　第二個關鍵推動因素是信息傳遞者的身份：口碑接收者必須信任傳遞者并相信他或她真的了解所說的產品或服務。我們的研究并未發(fā)現一個在各類產品中都具有影響力的同質消費者群體：了解汽車的消

76、費者可能對購車者有影響力，但是，不能影響購買美容產品的消費者。大約有8%~10%的消費者屬于我們所說的有影響力的人，他們的共同特征是可信和施加影響的能力。有影響力者形成的口碑信息，通常是無影響力者的三倍，其每條信息對接收者購買決策的影響力通常是無影響力者的四倍。在這些人中，大約有1%是通過數字技術發(fā)揮影響力，最引人注意的是博客寫手，其影響力極其巨大。</p><p>　　最后，傳播口碑的地域環(huán)境對于信息的影響力至

77、關重要。與通過分散的社區(qū)傳播相比，在彼此信任、關系密切的圈子中傳播的信息覆蓋范圍通常較小，但影響力較大，部分原因在于，我們信任其意見的人與我們所重視的圈子的成員，通常存在密切的關聯性。正是由于這個原因，在餐桌上提供推薦意見的傳統方式，以及與之類似的在線方式，現在仍很重要。畢竟，Facebook上有300名好友的人，可能會輕而易舉地忽略其中290人的意見。真正能夠產生影響力的，是彼此信任的朋友組成的關系緊密的小圈子。</p>

78、<p>　　口碑價值能夠讓企業(yè)了解口碑對于品牌和產品的市場表現產生的相對影響力。雖然營銷商一直都知道這種影響可能會非常大，但是，一旦他們真正了解了這種影響力有多大能耐后，他們或許還是會大吃一驚。例如，當蘋果公司的iPhone在德國推出時，其在手機產品中所占的口碑數量份額（或者說多少消費者在談論這種手機）大約為10%，比市場領先產品少三分之一。但是，iPhone也在其他國家推出，在德國傳遞的這些信息，其口碑影響力是平均水平的五

79、倍。這就意味著iPhone的口碑價值分數比市場領先產品高出30%，推薦iPhone的有影響力者是推薦市場領先手機者的三倍。結果，有關iPhone的正面口碑而產生的直接銷售量，是蘋果公司付費營銷活動所產生的銷售量的六倍。在推出24個月后，iPhone在德國的銷量幾乎達到一年一百萬部。</p><p>　　口碑價值所具有的靈活性讓我們能夠衡量它對企業(yè)、產品和品牌的影響，而不論其所在的產品類別或行業(yè)如何不同。由于它衡量

80、的是市場表現，而不僅僅是信息的數量，因而可用來分辨是何種因素推動或損害著口碑影響力。營銷商要將知識轉化為力量，這兩點洞見都至關重要。</p><p>　　控制和利用口碑的威力</p><p>　　在口碑營銷中追求卓越會帶來巨大的回報，可以帶來可持續(xù)的重大競爭優(yōu)勢，很少有其他營銷方法可以匹敵。然而，許多營銷商卻沒有這樣做。有些人擔心，與諸如電視和報紙這種媒體中高度發(fā)達的營銷管理相比，這種方式

81、作為一個營銷學科還不成熟。還有些人擔心，他們無法動用廣泛的數據或精心調整經過數十年錘煉的營銷工具。那些對積極管理口碑感到沒有把握的人，請考慮這一點：通過出色的電視廣告（比如說）勝過競爭對手而產生的累積性收益相對較小。這是因為，所有企業(yè)都會積極管理其傳統營銷活動，并且都擁有類似的知識。由于積極管理口碑這種最有力的營銷形式的企業(yè)如此之少，其潛在的收益則會大得多。</p><p>　　管理口碑需要從了解口碑價值開始：即

82、口碑價值的哪些方面——何人、何物，還是何地——對某一產品類別最為重要。例如，對于皮膚護理，關鍵是“何物”；對于零售銀行，關鍵是“何人”?？诒畠r值分析可詳細闡明某一類別中有影響力者的確切性質，并重點指出影響力最大的信息、背景和圈子。企業(yè)掌握了這些真知灼見，就可以運用我們發(fā)現的三種形式：經驗性、繼發(fā)性和有意識口碑，努力形成正面影響力。</p><p>　　盡管這些誘發(fā)因素的重要性因產品類別不同而各異，但經驗性口碑對各

83、個產品類別都是最重要的。從根本上說，利用經驗性口碑就是要為消費者提供機會以分享正面的經驗，并讓其經歷在受眾中引起共鳴。諸如Miele和Lego等企業(yè)，在產品推出之前就圍繞其營造口碑，并通過在線社區(qū)的支持讓消費者參與產品開發(fā)過程，從而形成具有很高影響力的早期采用者。不斷刷新產品體驗也有助于利用經驗性口碑——消費者在產品生命周期的早期對其進行談論的可能性較大；正是由于這個原因，產品的推出或產品的改進對于形成正面的口碑至關重要。企業(yè)也可以在產

84、品推出之后維持口碑：蘋果公司通過其應用軟件商店維持對于iPhone的興趣以及興奮感，不斷變化的、由用戶創(chuàng)建的內容幫助保持了正面口碑的不斷傳播。</p><p>　　多數企業(yè)在開發(fā)新產品和服務時都積極運用關于客戶滿意度的深入見解。然而，滿意的客戶群可能不足以形成口碑。要形成具有實際影響力的正面口碑，客戶體驗不僅要顯著高于期望，而且還要在客戶所重視的以及他或她可能談論的方面高于期望。例如，雖然電池壽命對于手機消費者來

85、說是關鍵的滿意度驅動因素，但是，它們談論這一因素的頻率卻少于設計和易用性等其他產品特性。要將消費者轉變?yōu)橛行У臓I銷載體，企業(yè)需要在具有內在口碑潛力的產品和服務屬性方面表現出色。</p><p>　　管理繼發(fā)性口碑需要運用口碑價值概念所提供的深入見解，以最大限度地提高營銷活動的回報。企業(yè)通過了解所運用的各種渠道和信息產生的口碑效應并相應地分配營銷資源，可以讓消費者傳播其營銷信息并提高其覆蓋范圍和影響力。事實上，麥肯

86、錫的研究表明，在諸如皮膚護理和手機這樣的多樣化產品中，營銷活動誘發(fā)的消費者之間的口碑所創(chuàng)造的銷量是付費廣告的兩倍。</p><p>　　有兩個因素有助于推動創(chuàng)造正面的繼發(fā)性口碑：互動性和創(chuàng)造性。這兩個因素相互關聯，它們對于創(chuàng)新性相對較低、通常難以引起消費者注意的類別的品牌尤為重要。企業(yè)成功運用這一做法的一個案例是英國糖果制造商吉百利（Cadbury），其“一杯半”的廣告活動周密且頗具創(chuàng)造性地整合了在線及傳統營銷，

87、推動了消費者互動和銷售。</p><p>　　該推廣活動由一則電視廣告開局，畫面上是一個大猩猩在擊鼓演奏菲爾?柯林斯的標志性歌曲。這兩個因素怪異地并置在一起產生了立竿見影的沖擊性效果。這一概念打動了消費者，他們愿意在線瀏覽該廣告，并制作了自己的業(yè)余版本，這引發(fā)了消費者在YouTube上的模仿熱潮。廣告上線不到三個月，視頻的在線瀏覽量便已超過了600萬次，吉百利牛奶巧克力年銷量增加了9%以上，該品牌在消費者中的正面

88、認知度提高了大約20%。</p><p>　　有意識的口碑推廣的核心在于確定具有品牌和產品倡導者影響力的人。當然，企業(yè)不能準確地控制消費者向他人講述的內容；但是，志存高遠的營銷商可運用有關口碑價值的深入見解，從繼發(fā)性口碑推廣轉向有意識口碑的推廣活動。</p><p>　　企業(yè)可選擇的推廣活動的類型，取決于營銷商可以在多大程度上發(fā)現并鎖定有影響力的人。能夠進行一對一營銷的營銷商（例如手機運營

89、商）擁有得天獨厚的優(yōu)勢，可實施有效的、便于操控的有意識口碑推廣。手機運營商擁有精確的客戶數據，可以準確地確定有影響力的人，這些人了解相應產品、會告訴許多人并為其提供他們愿意相信的意見。這就意味著，可以將信息發(fā)送給那些最有可能通過其社交網絡傳播正面口碑的特定個人。隨著信息的傳播，這一方法可產生巨大的口碑影響，類似于一石擊起千層浪的漣漪效應。</p><p>　　無法準確地確定有影響力的人的企業(yè)，必須采用另外的方法。

90、例如，盡管紅牛并不能向特定的消費者發(fā)短信，它卻成功地運用科學知識組織了有效的有意識口碑推廣活動。該能量飲料企業(yè)在確定了不同目標細分市場中的有影響力者之后，確信名人及其他意見領袖通?？赏ㄟ^搞活動的方式傳遞恰當的信息。盡管紅牛不能確保何人將出席活動，但是，它知道出席者就是它要尋找的那類消費者，并且他們在自己的社交網絡中傳遞的正面信息可以為企業(yè)的營銷投資帶來出色的回報。</p><p>　　營銷者一直都了解口碑的效果，