Exploring Source Expertise as an Antecedent to Word-of-mouth
I decided to undertake an independent study to further explore my word-of-mouth research interest. I had just finished the
Passion Conversation, published by Brains on Fire (a Greenville, S.C. agency), and wanted to dive into the idea of passion. Deeply
understanding the concept of passion has implications for brands and marketing practitioners. Campaigns are often built around
ambassador or influencer tactics. Similarly, loving a brand may lead many to keep the brand to themselves for fear of loosing their
uniqueness.
Explicating passion can take on multiple forms. I chose to examine both source expertise and shared identity as a way to measure
passion. Respondents were given an eight-question survey. Five questions measured source expertise using a five-item Likert
scale. Two questions were used to assess the degree that the respondent’s social identity related to a brand’s. Finally,
respondents were given the Ladder Scale of Positive WOM Advocacy to measure the likelihood of sharing their experiences with a
brand or service. The results showed a stronger correlation between source expertise and word-of-mouth when the participant
showed a stronger similarity to the brand. What follows is a presentation deck outlining my rationale, the process my research
and its implications.