Download free eBooks at bookboon.comMarketing Communications
Fundamentals Of Communication In Marketing
DEVELOPING FAVOURABLE wORD-OF-MOUTH COMMUNICATION
The keys to developing favourable word-of-mouth communications are:
1) Identifying and contacting the opinion leaders for a product or service.
2) Furnish the opinion leaders with the needed information to generate favourable
communication.
3) Measure the extent to which communication has been made to occur by other promotion
tools, besides word-of-mouth.GROUP COMMUNICATION
Consumers learn about new products, often from friends and other reference groups by two ways:
• Observing or participating with them as they use the product
• By seeking or receiving advice and information from the group they belongIndividuals who supply consumption-related information to others are referred to as opinion leaders.
OPINION LEADERSHIP
Information is the primary tool marketers use to influence consumer behaviour. While information is
ultimately processed by an individual, in a substantial number of cases, one or more group members
filter, interpret, or provide the information for the individual. The person who performs this task or role
is an opinion leader. The process of one person receiving information from the mass media or other
marketing sources and passing that information on to others is known as the TWO-STEP-FLOW of
communication.
The two-step-flow explains some aspects of communication within groups but, often times, a multi-
step-flow of communication usually occurs between the marketer, opinion leader and the target market
or consumer.
The multi-step-flow involves opinion leaders for a particular product area who actively seek relevant
information from the mass media as well as other sources. These opinion leaders process this information
and transmit their interpretations to some members of their groups. These group members also receive
some information from the mass media as well as from group members who are not opinion leaders.
Non-opinion leaders often initiate requests for information and supply feedback to the opinion leaders.