Word-of-Mouth Marketing: The money is where the mouth is

Barak Libai

New research has begun to focus on the 'social value' of customers and the monetary contribution of their word-of-mouth.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing: The money is where the mouth is

Barak LibaiArison School of Business

A growing stream of research aims to quantify the economic value of word-of-mouth. Through examining examples such as ESPN, these studies have evaluated the monetary contribution, or 'social value', of customers.

How much value does advertising on a TV channel like ESPN create for brands, compared to other media outlets? Historically, the answer would focus on the effect of the specific ads on the purchase pattern, and, consequently, the additional money spent by ESPN viewers. However, this is only part of the story.

A study...

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