Written by Jorien Langedijk and Willem Sodderland of Buzzer

Full post in the WOMMA Research Digest

We live in an era of ‘Likes’, +1, fans and ambassadors. But the fascination of marketers with recommendations has its drawbacks. Research on the credibility and acceptance of online Word of Mouth shows that recommendations suffer from inflation. What is behind this and how can word of mouth keep its positive impact for brands?

In a study that questioned 1,068 German consumers who share and search for online word of mouth, researchers found these stats:

•  Since the rise of the ‘social’ Web, we receive 4 times as many recommendations as we used to. On a weekly average, 8 recommendations are received offline, 26 online.

•  80% of the respondents receive online recommendations when they’re not looking for them.

•  36% of the respondents admit to being confused by the volume of recommendations.

•  Skepticism is growing: 79% believe that people are getting paid to spread recommendations and 78% believe that recommendations can be ‘fake’.

Read the full report in the WOMMA Research Digest