Our next conversational customer gave us pause however. Groceries. Who would want to discuss grocery shopping in an online community of interest? We were concerned that the category itself lacked the interest levels required to build and sustain a community. 

We were spectacularly wrong, but the subject of category variability in Word of Mouth marketing impact has not disappeared in our discussions with clients.

Well, there is a new piece of research from MSI that makes me smile; "What Products Do People Talk About and Why" looked at the results from 335 buzz marketing campaigns (BzzAgents data) across a wide range of products including food, financial services, movies.

The headline findings:

1. More interesting products are not talked about more frequently when you consider a multi-month campaign. Initially, yes, but this fades over time and interesting and dead boring products even out in WOM terms. The problem seems to be asking about intent - customers claim they will talk about interesting products more, but the realities of a routine life mean that...
2. Products that are used more frequently are talked about more frequently and by more people - an increase of 4 additional product uses per week created a 10% increase in WOM. Communications matters here, as product cues generate a similar effect, with...
3. The effect of cues strengthening as campaigns continue 

  'Products that are cued more frequently - either because they are used more frequently or bought to mind by a related stimulus - receive more WOM.'

If your product has infrequent use, but you want it talked about...Communicate with your customers frequently (and relevantly)!

Fascinating research.