• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 4, 2004

Word-Of-Mouth on Web Turns Lawsuit Into Industry Crisis

BuzzMetrics, a company specializing in word of mouth research and planning, released a new report revealing how word of mouth and online discussion forums shaped a food-industry crises. When a leading consumer advocacy group filed a lawsuit against food giant Kraft over its use of partially-hydrogenated oils in Oreo cookies, a frenzy erupted across thousands of consumer online discussion platforms.

According to BuzzMetrics' analysis of over 2.6 million comments from over 120,000 consumers, the Ban Trans Fats legal assault on Oreo caused the total volume of online discussions on trans fats to increase more than eightfold in the same month.

"The controversy is a seminal case of the dramatic role that online communities and their influential participants play during industry crises," said Jonathan Carson, president and CEO of BuzzMetrics. "Online word of mouth enabled a lawsuit against one company to shift into a major food-industry policy and public relations crisis, with erratic targeting of numerous other companies. Not surprisingly, much of the consumer-generated information and targeting was misinformed or false."

Key Findings of the Report:

Prior to the lawsuit, consumers did not link Oreo and Kraft to trans fats, but rather to other topics like recipes, purchasing, product feedback and dieting. However, following the suit, 90 percent of messages mentioning Oreo referenced trans fats or the lawsuit.

Before the lawsuit, 82 percent of conversations about trans fats occurred in dedicated nutrition, fitness and health forums with self-appointed and often authoritative subject-matter experts. But after the suit, mainstream forums, such as wedding planning, home management and teen communities, grew to account for over 30 percent, while health forums accounted for just over 50 percent.

Numerous international consumers jumped into the U.S. Oreo suit, highlighting anti-trans fats steps taken by their governments. Some consumers even expressed conspiracy theories involving food manufacturers and the U.S. government.

You can find out more here.