The Guardian and Observer have just released some insight from their latest Word of Mouth study. It’s good in covering established points and exposing a powerful marketing channel to a new audience. Below is info on Weak Ties but there is more at the main website here.
Weak Ties (in Word of Mouth)
Word of mouth spreads through people’s connections with each other. The looser those connections are, the faster and farther it can spread…
In 1973 sociologist Mark Granovetter published what is now regarded as one of the most influential and cited sociology papers ever written. ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’ explores the idea that society is held together by weak and strong bonds that exist between people. Crucially Granovetter pointed out that most advantage is conferred through Weak Ties – as he, at the time, proved by demonstrating that most people found new jobs through their Weak Ties, rather than through their Strong Ties.
What are Weak and Strong Ties?
Strong Ties are the relationships we have with close friends and family which have more bearing on our identity. They are our support system, the relationships in which we invest more of our time and energy. Weak Ties are the more distant, functional relationships we have with colleagues, friends of friends, or people we may have met through an activity, interest or online that have less bearing on our identity. The two types of tie have very different functions. Strong Ties provide our emotional safety net, they are our social glue. Weak Ties help us with social mobility, they are our social oil.
With regard to word of mouth Weak Ties are an important part of what makes someone influential. To explain why we must first look at how information travels. Clearly information spreads from person to person, but when a social network consists of a large number of Strong Ties information can become trapped. This is because the lack of Weak Ties in the group reduces the opportunity to transfer information to another social network. For the same reason members of very close friendship circles based on many Strong Ties tend to be exposed to fewer new ideas. The absence of Weak Ties in their network impacts on their ability to connect to other social circles where different information is being discussed. Weak Ties act as the conduits for new ideas, helping information to move from group to group.
This means that Weak Ties are essential for word of mouth and influence. They are the channels through which people access information and resources beyond those available in their own social circle. It follows, therefore, that people with a greater number of Weak Ties are more exposed to new ideas and are in a stronger position to inject those ideas into otherwise unconnected networks.
Weak Ties increase massively in a digital context. People who actively participate online – in terms of social networking, social media, and the maintenance of their relationships through email – are able to sustain many more Weak Ties than they would otherwise achieve offline. Moreover, because of the functional nature of Weak Ties (i.e. largely informational rather than emotional transactions), people who use review aggregation sites, pay attention to peer rating systems and follow threads effectively establish a Weak Tie with every contributor. This exponential boost to the volume of an individual’s Weak Ties also increases their access to new information and their ability to spread word of mouth to new networks of people.
Information flows more easily, traverses a greater social distance and reaches a greater number of people through Weak Ties. Weak Ties are a key component of word of mouth.
We suggest going over to the site and reading up on the other content too.
There is also a PDF report that you can download:
Tags guardian mark granovetter newspaper observer report study weak ties WOM womma WOMUK word of mouth