How Does Word of Mouth Drive Sales?

In Retailwire:  A favorite concept that we modeled in depth a number of times.  It also merits further direct lab and online testing. Still believe there are opportunities to understand the network interactions of WOM better.   This piece summarizes 'advanced econometric modeling'. " ... According to a study organized by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), online and offline consumer conversations and recommendations account for 13 percent of consumer sales, on average, which represents $6 trillion in annual consumer spending. In higher price point categories, word of mouth's impact is almost 20 percent of sales. ... " 

Your Product and Word of Mouth

Word of mouth for any product?

MARKETING
Think Your Product Is Too Boring for Word of Mouth Marketing? Think Again
New Wharton research shows consumers communicate differently depending on the medium, providing food for thought for marketers chasing the ever-elusive word of mouth recommendation. ...

Community Managers and Equity

In Word of Mouth Marketing Blog:  A resource I have just started to cover, some good thoughts about being a content and community manager. Reminds me of conversations I had with (unofficial) brand equity managers in the enterprise.    Seems to be an interesting conversation starting.  Links to the documents mentioned in the full article.    " ... social media practitioners from an array of organizations came together for two and a half hours to create one document: The Community Manager Manifesto. The goal of this first ever summit meeting was to create a document that would exist as an aspirational set of ideals for community managers. The resulting six-theme manifesto reveals a common aspiration across all its declaratives: As a community manager, it’s time to become a much more strategic asset to your organization at the highest levels. “Marketing” as a theme was not included. Should it be? .. "