The Hunger Games and Word of Mouth

Just like I jumped on to the Pinterest bandwagon, last weekend I joined the crowd with The Hunger Games.  I will gladly admit that it was a gripping story and I am ready to read the next two books and watch the movie, but this is not another blog post dedicated to proclaiming the awesomeness of The Hunger Games.  Instead, I want to demonstrate how good, ol' fashioned WOM convinced me to read the book.

A few months ago was when I first about the book and one of my best friends said it was just like Twilight - that comment alone made me never want to read the books.  Then, a month ago I stumbled upon the Taylor Swift song created for the movie.  I liked the song, but I still have preconceived thoughts about the movie.  I also watched the trailer and it looked intriguing, but could not change what I heard, and thus believed, from a trusted source.  These thoughts were not based on extensive research, but from a simple statement made by a trusted friend.

Later, before one of my classes, some classmates were talking about the book and everyone was saying how great it was.  Some guys in my class were praising it, which seemed weird to me because they did not seem like the people who would enjoy a Twilight copycat.  I asked them all about it and they said how it was in no way like Twilight.  These classmates are not as good of friends as my original source, but I trusted them and decided that I needed to read the book.

So the moral of this short story is that no form of advertising/promotion can compete with recommendations (and warnings) from personal sources.  I believe WOM advertising is the best type of marketing available, but ultimately a company cannot create this.  Brands can work to create ideas and messages that are easy to share via WOM, but they also need to make sure that consumers are excited and willing to engage in WOM. 

As people continue to share more of their lives with others online, WOM will have greater importance.  Social media by no means created WOM, but it has increased communication between more friends and at a faster pace.  I am excited to learn about the next great book, movie, restaurant, etc. based on input from my friends.

Aaron Roecker