• Warc, Wednesday, April 21, 2010 12:16 PM

A new report from McKinsey says that word of mouth is the "primary factor" behind between 20% and 50% of purchases. It also finds that recommendations from a "trusted source" like a friend or family member are 50 times more likely to persuade someone to buy a brand than a "low impact" recommendation.

Advertising runs a distant second. "Marketing-induced consumer-to-consumer word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising in categories as diverse as skincare and mobile phones," the report claims.

The study points to the emerging power of mobile marketing efforts. "Marketers capable of undertaking one-to-one marketing -- such as mobile-phone operators -- are uniquely positioned to execute controlled and effective intentional word-of-mouth campaigns," write Jacques Bughin, Jonathan Doogan and Ole Jørgen Vetvik. They also say that "influentials" -- about 9% of the population -- produce about three times more word of mouth than the norm.

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