friends about purchases, buyers have
other options. The wealth of peer-to-peer information and the unprecedented avail-
ability of expert opinions give them access to what's known as absolute value—a rich, specific sense of what it's like to own or use the goods they're considering.
Every marketer is aware of the rise of
online reviews and other sources of peer-
to -peer information, but many neglect this
trend and market products much as they
did a decade ago. We believe that many
companies need to dramatically shift their
marketing strategies to account for the
rising power exerted on future customers
by the opinions of existing customers. We
have created two tools to help managers do
that: the influence mix and the 0 continuum.
Understand Your Influence Mix
Customers' purchase decisions are typi-
cally affected by a combination of three
things: Their prior preferences, beliefs,
and experiences (which we refer to as P),
information from marketers (M), and
input from other people and from
information services (0). This is
the influence mix. Think of it as a
zero-sum game: The greater the
reliance on one source, the lower
the need for the others. If the impact
of 0 on a purchase decision about a food processor goes up, the influence of M or P, or both, goes down.
In recent years 0 has taken on increas-
ing weight in many categories, but plenty
of exceptions remain. For example, ha-
bitual purchases (such as milk) tend to be
dominated by P, while someone shopping
for a toothbrush is most likely to be swayed
by packaging, brand, pricing, and point-of-
purchase messages—all components of M.
Companies need to ask: To what extent
do consumers depend on 0 when mak-
ing decisions about their products? We
present the answers as points along the 0
continuum. The closer your product is to
the 0-dependent end, the greater the shift
in how consumers gather and evaluate in-
formation about it. (See the exhibit "How
Much Does Opinion Matter?")
friends about purchases, buyers have
other options. The wealth of peer-to-peer information and the unprecedented avail-
ability of expert opinions give them access to what's known as absolute value—a rich, specific sense of what it's like to own or use the goods they're considering.
Every marketer is aware of the rise of
online reviews and other sources of peer-
to -peer information, but many neglect this
trend and market products much as they
did a decade ago. We believe that many
companies need to dramatically shift their
marketing strategies to account for the
rising power exerted on future customers
by the opinions of existing customers. We
have created two tools to help managers do
that: the influence mix and the 0 continuum.
Understand Your Influence Mix
Customers' purchase decisions are typi-
cally affected by a combination of three
things: Their prior preferences, beliefs,
and experiences (which we refer to as P),
information from marketers (M), and
input from other people and from
information services (0). This is
the influence mix. Think of it as a
zero-sum game: The greater the
reliance on one source, the lower
the need for the others. If the impact
of 0 on a purchase decision about a food processor goes up, the influence of M or P, or both, goes down.
In recent years 0 has taken on increas-
ing weight in many categories, but plenty
of exceptions remain. For example, ha-
bitual purchases (such as milk) tend to be
dominated by P, while someone shopping
for a toothbrush is most likely to be swayed
by packaging, brand, pricing, and point-of-
purchase messages—all components of M.
Companies need to ask: To what extent
do consumers depend on 0 when mak-
ing decisions about their products? We
present the answers as points along the 0
continuum. The closer your product is to
the 0-dependent end, the greater the shift
in how consumers gather and evaluate in-
formation about it. (See the exhibit "How
Much Does Opinion Matter?")
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