© 2014 Keller Fay Group | Not to be quoted or distributed without written permission

The Power of Positive WOM

Keller Fay TalkTrack® Insights March 2014

Introduction: Positive and Negative WOM

2

“What is the breakdown

between positive and negative

WOM?”

“Negative WOM has to be more impactful on

consumer behavior than positive WOM, right?”

Two of the most frequent questions we hear about WOM:

We’ll address those questions and more in this presentation.

Executive Summary

• More than 2/3 of all WOM is positive, compared to less than 10% that is negative. – Leading categories for positive WOM include personal care & beauty,

beverages, household products, food/dining and media/entertainment.

– Even polarizing categories like financial services and telecom earn over 50% positive WOM.

• Positive WOM is more likely than negative WOM to be viewed as credible and to result in information pass along. – Travel, media/entertainment and retail/apparel are the leading categories

where positive WOM is rated as even more credible and likely to be passed along than negative WOM.

3

All Product Categories Earn > 50% Positive Sentiment

4

-24%

-12%

-19%

-18%

-15%

-16%

-15%

-14%

-15%

-13%

-13%

-16%

-14%

-18%

-9%

-8%

-7%

-6%

-6%

-5%

-6%

-6%

-4%

-8%

52%

58%

64%

64%

68%

69%

71%

71%

72%

71%

74%

67%

Net Sentiment (positive less mixed & negative WOM)

43

Mixed Negative Positive

57

52

52

51

50

WOM Sentiment by Category

All Categories

Personal Care & Beauty

Beverages

Media / Entertainment

Household Products

Food / Dining

Retail / Apparel

Travel

47

46

Automotive

Technology

Financial Services

Telecom

38

36

28

14

Source: Keller Fay’s TalkTrack®, Oct. 2012 – Sept. 2013

Positive WOM is More Credible and More Likely To Be Shared

5

45%

37%

64%

53%

Credibility/Believability Likelihood to Pass Along

Positive WOM Rated Highly Credible/Likely to Lead to Action

Mostly Negative WOM Mostly Positive WOM

Source: Keller Fay’s TalkTrack®, Oct. 2012 – Sept. 2013

In These Key Categories, Positive WOM Exhibits the Most Decided Advantage Over Negative WOM

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69%

67%

67%

65%

65%

45%

48%

47%

47%

52%

Travel

Media/Entertainment

Food/Dining

Retail/Apparel

Financial

61%

56%

53%

53%

53%

36%

33%

38%

41%

42%

Travel

Retail/Apparel

Media/Entertainment

Telecom

Technology

Mostly Positive WOM Mostly Negative WOM

% of WOM Rated Highly Credible/Likely to Lead to Action

Credibility / Believability Likelihood to Pass Along

Source: Keller Fay’s TalkTrack®, Oct. 2012 – Sept. 2013

© 2014 Keller Fay Group | Not to be quoted or distributed without written permission

The Keller Fay Group

Bringing best-in-class tools to word of mouth strategy and measurement