Word-of-mouth (WOM) is a powerful communications tool which is often beyond the control of the marketer. This study used a survey to examine WOM as a source of information by consumers. The survey involved 896 respondents of 3 different age groupings and examined three distinct areas: the importance of WOM as an information source, perception of WOM versus other sources of information, and the importance of WOM in the selection of three product types.
Results obtained from the survey showed that WOM sources were generally considered to be reliable and influential. Differences in perceptions of WOM were observed among the subsamples when one-way ANOVA was applied; for example, in different situations, the various age groups placed different emphasis on WOM.
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