Abstract
The buzz agent is any consumer perceived by others as a source of product referral. Previous literature in word of mouth (WOM) has looked into characteristics of individuals who successfully persuade others to choose a brand. While there have been studies in this field, the literature is still scattered and little has been done to profile the consumer playing the buzz-agent role. We aim to deepen our understanding about the consumer who must be recruited as a buzz agent by a firm in a WOM marketing (WOMM) initiative. The proposed profile is comprised of three key characteristics: the consumer's position in the social community, nature of ties in the community and brand attachment. We tested our hypotheses with a survey of 542 consumers from a controlled population. Rather than relying on self-reported questions about referral behavior, we asked respondents in the population to name the individuals to whom the respondents go to obtain information to help pick a brand. This accurately pinpoints which individuals fit the profile of a buzz agent. Results show that buzz agents are popular in their social community (friends and tech experts), carry dissimilar brands as target consumers and are product experts. Our study identifies a profile of consumers that helps firms select buzz agents for WOMM initiatives.
Highlights
We define for our study that a buzz agent refers to any consumer perceived by others as a source of product referral
Our data collection effort identifies the buzz agent by asking consumers to name other consumers that they rely on to gather information about a brand. This measure captures how consumers perceive others as a source of product referral. With such a buzz agent measurement, we pursue an analysis that enables identifying characteristics that lead consumers to be perceived as sources of product referral
We address in this paper scholars’ and practitioners’ call for research to better understand the consumers who play the role of buzz agent (Brown & Reingen, 1987; Joachimsthaler, 2010; Kumar, Petersen, & Leone, 2007; Schmitt et al, 2011)
Summary
We define for our study that a buzz agent refers to any consumer perceived by others as a source of product referral. WOMM is the intentional influencing of consumer-to-consumer communications by firms’ marketing initiatives (Kozinets, Valck, Wojnicki, & Wilner, 2010) such as social media marketing (Schmitt, Skiera, & Van den Bulte, 2011), viral marketing (Court, Gordon, & Perrey, 2005), endorsement campaign (Dye, 2000) and blogger sponsorship (Cheema & Kaikati, 2010). These initiatives stimulate buzz agents to convert other consumers into users. Even though these are important marketing initiatives, firms still strive to recruit buzz agents because it is hard to profile them
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
