At the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) 2011 annual re:think convention, a key issues forum presentation was held entitled Supercharging the Path to Purchase: Using Word-of-Mouth to Drive More Consumers to Buy. The presentation looks at the effects of Word of Mouth advertising as it relates to female consumers. Presenters include Ed Keller-CEO of Keller Fay Group & Tony Cardinale-EVP, Brand Planning & Strategic Insights at NBC Universal.

2. Supercharging the Path
to Purchase
Using Word-of-Mouth to Drive
More Consumers to Buy
Ed Keller Tony Cardinale
CEO EVP, Brand Planning &
Keller Fay Group Strategic Insights
NBC Universal

3. Women at NBCU
• A sales, marketing, and research initiative that
partners with agencies and advertisers on high
ROI custom solutions
• Its Insights area is charged with delivering
marketing partners new intel to guide impactful
campaigns and measure corporate-wide results

4. What Made This Investigation Valuable
1. Women are WOM drivers
2. Women drive more
purchasing in more
categories than ever
3. Women are more trusted
and influential
…but little is known or has been studied about the
dynamics of Women’s word-of-mouth in the path
to purchase

5. Popular Assumption
Consumer as “prospect” Consumer as “marketer”
Need Aware of Research & Final Purchase Brand
identified choices narrowing decision $$$ advocate

6. A New Way of Thinking
We believed that consumers could act as effective
marketers for brands even before purchase, and
we wanted to understand how to effect that
Purchase
prospect
Purchase Brand
$$$ advocate
Pre-purchase
marketer

7. Our Partnership with Keller Fay
• NBCU had already been using Keller Fay's
TalkTrack® to help our clients locate Conversation
Catalysts™ across many categories
• We formed a partnership on this custom research
to move beyond what we collectively knew
about getting women talking at critical
marketing moments

8. What Inspired Us? We Knew…
1. Women are “in category” and driving purchasing
more than ever in key general market areas
Women 18+ who say they do the following: 2000 2009 Change
Negotiating to buy a car 86% 97% +11pts
Planning for retirement 80% 94% +14
Buying a computer 68% 95% +27
Buying or selling stocks to make money 63% 83% +20
Dealing with a repair person 89% 98% +9
Source: Women at NBCU Power of the Purse Study Fall 2009. Total Women 18+.

9. What Inspired Us? We Knew…
2. Women are WOM drivers when it comes to
brand conversations
# of brands talked about weekly
92
84
Male Female
Source: Keller Fay Group’s TalkTrack®

10. What Inspired Us? We Knew…
3. Women are more trusted and influential than
Men (even among Men)
Response to word-of-mouth received from
Male Female
62%
53% 53% 51%
46% 45%
33% 36%
Credibility of Propensity Propensity to Seek Propensity
Brand WOM to Relay More Info to Purchase
Source: Keller Fay Group’s TalkTrack®

11. New Questions to Answer
1. How does word-of-mouth change throughout
the path to purchase?
2. What triggers WOM in different phases of
the path to purchase?

12. Methodology
• Online survey of 4,999 representative women 18-54
• March 2010
• Measured dynamics of person-to-person
communication, whether face-to-face, over the phone, or
online
• Identified the point along the purchase path that each woman
is at in all of the 12 categories within the 6 industries studied

13. WOM Plays an Increasing Role Closer to
the Point of Purchase Among Women
All categories
% of WOM among women by purchase stage
All Categories Average
50%
Industries studied:
40% auto, financial, payment
cards, electronics, teleco
36%
30%
m, movies
(movies not included in “all categories” analysis)
of women have a
20% conversation during the
narrowing or final
10% decision-making
purchase stage
0%
Not Relevant Needs Met Starting to Look Researching Narrowing Final
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

14. Advertising Plays a Bigger Role
Than Women Think
What Consumers Believe
Consumers acknowledge they rely on
advertising to learn about products,
but claim it plays a smaller role as they
approach an actual decision
80%
60%
advertising
as important resource
40%
20%
0%
Awareness Phase Research Phase Decision-Making
Phase
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

15. Advertising Plays a Bigger Role
Than Women Think
What Consumers Believe What Consumers Do
Consumers acknowledge they rely on …But when consumers talk about brands, the
advertising to learn about products, closer they get to a decision, the more they talk
but claim it plays a smaller role as they about things they learned about from
approach an actual decision advertising
“Pre-purchase
80% 40%
Promoter” Period
60% 30%
advertising
as important resource
40% 20%
advertising
as topic of conversation
20% 10%
0% 0%
Awareness Phase Research Phase Decision-Making Needs Met Starting to Researching Narrowing Final
Phase Look
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

16. TV & Internet Drive WOM More Than
Other Paid Media at All Stages
WOM % containing media/marketing references
at each purchase stage
17%
Starting to look
14%
13% Researching
12%
11% Narrowing choices
8% Final decision
7%
5%
4% 4%
3% 3% 3% 3% 3%
2% 2% 2% 2%
1% 1% 2% 1% 1% 1%
1% 1% 1%
Television Internet Newspaper Magazine Radio Cell/Mobile Billboard
Ad Ad Ad Ad Ad Device Ad Ad
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

17. Study Highlight: TV is Often the Spark
Role of TV & Internet in brand WOM,
across all categories
Television Internet
31%
24%
16%
14%
Medium prompted Medium prompted
conversation immediately conversation later
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

18. …While WOM Often Stimulates Research
Actions taken/likely to be taken based
on WOM at each purchase stage
33%
32%
30%
25% Get More Info/
Do Research on it
22%
18% 18% Visit the Brand/
15% Company Website
12% 11%
10% Visit a Store to Find
9% 8%
Out More About it
4% 5%
3%
Spend More $
Than Planned
Needs Met Starting to Look Researching Narrowing Choices
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

19. WOM is Most Influential Later in the
Purchase Funnel
Purchase likelihood based on WOM by purchase
stage, across all categories
Top 3 Box (8, 9 or 10 on 0-10pt. scale) + Already Bought
80%
60%
40%
Industries studied:
20% auto, financial, payment
cards, movies, electronics, te
0% lecom
Starting to Look Researching Narrowing Final
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

20. …the Vast Majority of WOM Occurs
as it Always Has…
Mode of WOM by purchase stage,
across all categories
Face to Face On the Phone Online (NET)
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Not Relevant Needs Met Starting to Look Researching Narrowing Final
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

21. Different Categories, Different Dynamics
WOM % among women consumers containing paid
media/marketing references at each purchase stage
Telecom Payment Cards
25%
25%
20% Television 20%
Internet
15%
Magazine 15%
Radio
10%
10%
Newspaper
5% Cell/ Mobile
Device
5%
Billboard
0%
Needs Met Starting to Researching Narrowing Final Decision 0%
Look Choices Needs Met Starting to Researching Narrowing Final
Look Choices Decision
Though the categories we studied showed general trends,
each had its own “personality” with discrete implications as well
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

22. Different Categories, Different Dynamics
WOM % among women consumers containing paid
media/marketing references at each purchase stage
Automotive Tech/Electronics
30% Television
25%
25% Internet
20%
20% Magazine
15%
15%
Radio
10%
10%
Newspaper
5% 5%
Cell Phone/Mobile
Device
0% 0%
Needs Met Starting to Researching Narrowing Final Billboard
Look
Needs Met Starting to Researching Narrowing Final
Look
Though the categories we studied showed general trends,
each had its own “personality” with discrete implications as well
Source: NBC WOM Custom Study, March 11th – 25th 2010. Conducted by the Keller Fay Group

23. Implications
1. Consumers are “marketers” in all purchase
phases, not just post-buy
2. Word-of-mouth increases as consumers
get closer to buying; indeed, there is a
“Pre-Purchase Promoter” peak in the
latter half of the funnel when WOM is
elevated and more influential
3. TV often sparks a conversation that pushes
toward online, even late in the funnel
4. Think about WOM as a key outcome
of media and advertising, with different
media working together along a
purchase path
5. Research plays a key role: there’s no
one-size-fits-all approach, as patterns
vary by category

24. Thank You!
Ed Keller Tony Cardinale
ekeller@kellerfay.com tony.cardinale@nbcuni.com
twitter.com/kellerfay
facebook.com/kellerfay