Related Terms

Electronic word-of-mouth is a relatively new-found term and it has two closely related terms. The terms electronic word-of-mouth and eWOM are frequently used as synonyms for viral or buzz marketing. Although the degree of relationship among these terms is strong, hold these three terms still some wide fundamental differences.

Viral marketing is meant to spread, as the word ‘viral’ stand for. According to Marsden (2006) the definition is as follows:

“The promotion of a company or its products and services through a persuasive message designed to spread, typically online, from person to person.”

Buzz marketing is meant to be a penetrating promotion process, no only to person-to-person context but to the media as well. Marsden’s (2006) definition is as follows:

“The promotion of a company or its products or services through initiatives conceived and designed to get people and the media talking positively about that company, product or service.”

Source:
Mardsen, P. (2006). Word of Mouth: What We Really Know - And What We Don't. Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

The Main Elements of eWOM

According to Hennig–Thurau et al.’s (2004) definition: “Any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet”, we can discover that electronic word-of-mouth consists of five main elements:

1. Statement: positive, negative or neutral
2. Communicator: statement creator i.e. potential, actual or former customer
3. Object: product, service or/and company
4. Receiver: multitude of people and institutions
5. Environment: the Internet, particularly the social media

The statement, author and object are essentially the same as in traditional, non-electronic word-of-mouth but the nature of receiver and environment have changed in consequences of Internet and social media. The receiver in eWOM is not solely a single person – it consists of multitude of people and institutions. The statement passing process has shifted from oral, person-to-person communication to electronic and written form, in many cases to person-to-unknown-people communication. Additionally, the whole environment has changed from face-to-face context to the extensive Internet and social media.

Source:
Hennig-Thurau, T., Qwinner, K.P., Walsh, G., Gremler, D.D. (2004), "Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: what motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet?", Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 18 No.1, pp.38-52.

Definition of Traditional Word-of-Mouth

Over 40 years ago, the then pioneer word-of-mouth researcher Johan Arndt (1967) offered the following definition:

“Oral, person-to-person communication between a receiver and a communicator whom the receiver perceives as non-commercial, concerning a brand, product, or a service.”

The definition is still competent and Nyilasi (2006) clarifies the definition by pointing out that traditional word-of-mouth consist of three essential parts:

1. Interpersonal communication
2. Commercial content
3. Non-commercially motivated communicators

First, traditional word-of-mouth is interpersonal communication, in which case it is apart from mass communication (such as advertising) and other impersonal channels. Second, the content of word-of-mouth communication is commercial from a marketing perspective. Thus, the focus of communication is on commercial entities, products, brands and marketers – or even their advertising. Third, although the content of word-of-mouth communication is commercial, the message distributors are not motivated commercially – or at least they are perceived not be.

Sources:
Arndt, J. (1967), Word of Mouth Advertising: A Review of the Literature, Advertising Research Foundation, Inc., New York, NY.
Nyilasy, G. (2006). Word of Mouth: What We Really Know - And What We Don't. Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

A Brief History of the Term “Word-of-Mouth”

Word-of-mouth is one of those things that everybody thinks they clearly understand but they are, nevertheless, each talking about a different part of the elephant (Silverman, 2001). Some might think that the phrase is something new but it is not. In actual fact, the term has been used for a long time – probably much longer than any other term in marketing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written occurrence of the term “word-of-mouth” dates back to 1533. The dictionary defines the long-standing term as ‘oral communication’, ‘oral publicity’, or simply ‘speaking’, in contrast with ‘written and other method[s] of expression’. (Nyilasy, 2006.)

Sources:
Nyilasy, G. (2006). Word of Mouth: What We Really Know - And What We Don't. Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Silverman, G. (2001). The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: How to Trigger Exponential Sales Through Runaway Word-of-Mouth. New York: American Marketing Association.

Definition of Electronic Word-of-Mouth

The most well-defined and extensive definition of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) to date is by Hennig-Thurau, Qwinner, Walsh and Gremler (2004), who define the complex term as follows:

"Any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet."

Source:
Hennig-Thurau, T., Qwinner, K.P., Walsh, G., Gremler, D.D. (2004), "Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: what motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet?", Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 18 No.1, pp.38-52.