Profiling the Buzz Agent: Product Referral and the Study of Social Community and Brand Attachment

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.

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“…Hence, the executives in SOEs-BUMN should state the best information's in their firms to the prospects investors to attempt and increase the stocks-price and the market orientations and also the transaction analysis. (Josh et al, 2016;Song et al, 2015) (Krafft et al, 2004) (Claro and Bortoluzzo, 2015;Kloviene et al, 2015;Thomas, 2015;Wiersma, 2017;Zhang, 1998).…”

Developing a Model for Studying the Antecedents and Effects of Word of Mouth (WoM) and e-WoM Marketing Based on Literature Review

“…In yet another study by Claro and Bortoluzzo, 2015, the characteristics of established buzz agents were tested to understand the correlation between their online activities and their personality traits. The authors profiled consumers on the basis of three key characteristics: the consumer’s position in the social community, nature of ties in the community, and brand attachment.…”

“…The authors profiled consumers on the basis of three key characteristics: the consumer’s position in the social community, nature of ties in the community, and brand attachment. The study showed that buzz agents are popular in their social community of friends and technology experts, carry dissimilar brands as target consumers and are product experts (Claro & Bortoluzzo, 2015).…”

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