DUCKHYUN ANEUDDEUM CHUNG
JUAN FRANCISCO EGURENLOU IS
YASMIN KHALFALLAHJIN LEE
SUMIN NAM
Group 6
Its not only what you hear, but who you hear it from …
Talk of the Network: A Complex Systems Look at the Process of Word-of-Mouth Underlying
Strong & Weak ties
Stochastic Cellular Automata Complex systems modeling technique
- Simulations of aggregate consequences based on local in-teractions between individual members of a population
- Measures the impact of word of mouth, strong and weak ties, and advertisement on human behavior
- Tracking the changing state of each individual
1) Weak ties
2) Beyond a relatively early stage of the process, the effect of external marketing efforts quickly diminishes and strong and weak ties become the main forces propelling the process
3) The effect of strong ties on the speed of information dissemination di-minishes as personal network size decreases4) As the number of weak ties contacts increases, the effect of strong ties
decreases while the effect of weak ties increases$
5) As the level of advertising increases, the effect of strong ties increases while the effect of weak ties decreases
Dettol’s WOM Cam-paign
in China
What were the results?
Reached Tar-get Audience
Sales In-creased
1. The largest fashion retailer in the world
2. ZARA barely does advertising 3%
1. APPs on smartphone
2. Online Shopping
3. E-magazine
Digital WOM
1. New items every two weeks
2. ZARA chooses the best location
11,000 items
Real World WOM
Managerial Impact Technique suited for
- Usually under-researched marketing phenomena- Analysis of interpersonal based processes Ability to deeply explore real life occurances
Examples of use: - Explore web-based information dissemination and vi-
ral marketing which use WOM channels
Managerial Impact
Examples of use:– Time-based changes of the marketing mix– Analysis of optimal marketing in the presence of net-
work externalities
WOM – Marketing–Recognition of the significance -> upward trend–“Direct” instead of “manage” WOM-effects
Conclusion
Weak Ties > Strong Ties
• Small Net work size• Numerous Weak Ties
• Weak Ads effectStrong Ties > Weak Ties
• Large Net work size• Few Weak Ties• Strong Ads effect
Conclusion
Advertisement >WOM
More desirable state for WOM
Types of Industry & Products &
Brand
ConclusionPersonal Critique
• Analysis based on a number of assumptions
• Informed ≠ influenced
•Does not consider:
Subjectivity of human evaluation
Cultural paradigms, morality and ethics
Family linksAuthorityCelebrity power
ConclusionPersonal Critique
•Does not consider:Personal judgement
Nature of the product or service
Nature of consumption of the product or service
Trust of each individual regardless of the nature of the tie
Similarity of individual’s values, beliefs and opinions to one’s own
Past experiences
ConclusionProfessional Critique
Novel information is found in strong ties
• Rapidly changing environment
New information from same source
• Breadth of knowledgeEnables indefinite
education from same source
• If the whole population knows the same thing, human diversity doesn’t influence novelty
Marshall Van Alstyne BA (Yale) , MS & PhD (MIT)
