Can Word of Mouth advertising go it alone?

The Handshake Report

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, at the University of South Australia, collaborated with the Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania for the Empirical Generalizations in Advertising Conference. They brought together an outstanding group of researchers and practitioners in diverse areas of advertising, who presented research-based summaries. The aim of the conference was to take stock of what we do– and don’t–know about advertising, to glimpse how advertising might work in the future. Ed Keller, CEO of the The Keller Fay Group, said approximately 20 percent of word of mouth (WOM) is stimulated by advertising. Influencers are three times as likely to talk about ads, and ad-influenced WOM is about 20 percent more likely to include an active recommendation to buy or try the product.