Pass it on: A framework for classifying the content of word of mouth

• We use online text-mining to investigate the content of electronic word of mouth (eWOM).
• The context of this study was the entertainment category.
• We identified seven key themes within eWOM conversations.
• The most common theme was Product/Service Characteristic, followed by Personal Opinion.
• A framework was developed to classify the content of eWOM conversations.

Chinese abstract传递：对口碑内容进行分类的框架口碑被认为是产品成功的关键因素。但我们对口碑的内容[分类]却知之甚少。透过在线的文本挖掘方法，在两个娱乐类别(电视节目和电影)中我们展开对电子口碑行销关键主题的调查。我们确定电子口碑行销对话中的七个关键主题。根据普遍性的顺序分别为：产品/服务性质 (26%评论)；个人意见(17%)；分销特征(15%)；分级比较(14%)；购买/消费活动描述(10%)；广告/宣传(9%)；以及市场表现(4%)。不同类别之间存在着差异，并可主要透过在电影和电视节目的购买/消费过程中的不同进行说明。然而，在新产品和退回的产品之间只存在极小的差异。我们的发现在产品推出的初期阶段突显了广告的价值，让消费者在初期形成消费观念。此外，市场营销活动应该为消费者提供如何购买产品/消费服务的信息，因为这些信息是消费者所关注并会透过电子口碑行销传递下去。考虑到电子口碑行销经常会引发现有产品和其他产品的对比，所以在合适的对比产品上标上提示，可能有助于营销人员管理消费者对新产品的认识。

While word of mouth (WOM) is regarded as a key ingredient in product success, little is known about the content of WOM given. Using an online text-mining approach, we investigated the key themes within electronic WOM (eWOM) in two entertainment categories, television programs and movies. We identify seven key themes within eWOM conversations. These are (in order of prevalence): Product/Service Characteristic (26% of comments); Personal Opinion (17%); Distribution Characteristic (15%); Categorisation Comparison (14%); Description of Purchase/Consumption Activity (10%); Advertising/Promotion (9%) and In-Market Performance (4%). There are differences across categories, largely explicable by differences in the purchase/consumption process of movies versus television programs. However, there are only minor differences for new versus returning products. Our findings highlight the value of advertising during the initial stages of a product’s launch to enable consumers to form opinions early on. Furthermore, marketing activities should provide information about how people can purchase/consume the product/service, as such details are often sought and passed on via eWOM. Given that eWOM often entails a comparison of a given product against another, providing signals on appropriate comparative offerings may help marketers control the context for consumers’ understanding of the new product.