The Transmission of Advertising by Word of Mouth

Abstract

Part of the sales effect of advertising arises through its transmission into word of mouth (WOM). Evidence on the scale of this transmission is considered and an argument is made that barriers to the carryover of ad effect into WOM may operate when a category lacks a precise form and when an ad lacks content that can be used directly in WOM. The transmission of the ad message into WOM should be an objective of those creating ad copy and this transmission should be measured in ad pretests.