Jul 14, 2007

‘Expert’ consumers spread word on retailBy Hollie ShawCanada.com

The most influential group of consumers, opinion leaders who talk more frequently with friends or online about products and retail experiences than others do, are more likely to pass on positive recommendations than negative ones, according to a new academic study.

“Consumers who believe they are experts in an area like to talk about their positive experiences,” said Andrea Wojnicki, professor of marketing at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “These are the people who offer advice to other consumers about a specific product category in society — those who people come to for advice.”

The study looked at consumers who were self-described experts in any given category (such as restaurants, recipes, home repair or home decor) as well as those who characterized themselves as novices or non-experts.

It found that the experts — generally the consumers that marketers love to target because they are active word-of-mouth marketers, tending to voice their opinions more frequently than others and influence other consumers — were four times more likely to talk about their positive experiences than their negative experiences. There was no statistical difference between the positive and negative repetitions among novices.

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