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“Word of Mouth” still dominating Cambodian consumer purchase decisions
Despite Cambodia’s increasing digital adoption, word of mouth recommendation (WOM) still holds the most weight when it comes to influencing purchasing decisions, according to a new report by research site Engagement Labs (EL).
The EL report said that although WOM is increasingly done through email, text and social media, the majority is still done face to face, specifically in regargds to business to consumer (B2C) transactions.
The report cites that despite its share of influence decreasing, face to face WOM still holds the majority of influence (66 percent) as measured in 2020.
“Since 2007, the share of WOM accounted for via phone conversations has remained steady at around 17 percent, while among online channels the share of conversations attributed to instant message/text message has increased from 3 to 8 percent. Email’s share has dipped from 3 to 2 percent.”
Victor La, founder of smart recruitment site Accel8Asia.com, said in Cambodia that WOM is particularly powerful because the connection is consistent with cultural norms, especially in B2C businesses.
“WOM marketing definitely helps strengthen your market positioning against your competition and it also works on several different levels depending on age demographics,” said La.
“For young people, WOM is more geared towards the FOMO or ‘fear of missing out’ factor,” he said. He noted that young people are being influenced by trends which at first may be seen through advertisements, but grow exponentially once they are adopted as ‘cool’.
“Older generations still regard relationships and connection highly so longstanding business/customer relationships create valuable recommendations within this age group,” La added.
He cites the key to putting your businesses on peoples’ lips is developing marketing channels that really understand customers and their buying patterns and then delivering what the customers need in terms of quality and price.
Another recent report, by market analysts Bluecore, found that despite the rise of influencer marketing, WOM still tops the list of channels that most influence online shoppers’ decisions to try a new brand.
The study also found that rather than compromise offline WOM, social media has developed it through messaging apps and social media groups.
Founder of popular Facebook group “Where to find stuff in Phnom Penh”, Kimmo Hakala, says the platform is especially great for small businesses who lack big marketing budgets and rely on WOM recommendations.
“It can be daunting to find stuff in Phnom Penh, especially as a newcomer. Online shops, supermarkets and the like are all on a quite basic level and are difficult to locate and verify quality wise. When we set up our first business, craft beer bar Embargo, I had problems like where to find paint, contractors, co2 and so on and we spent an unfathomable amount of time just trying to find stuff. Recommendations would have been so helpful.”
“The group benefits the local community by directing traffic to certain shops. Rather than going to huge stores, the group helps people to find things from small, often family run businesses.
“Owning two businesses myself, I can say that word of mouth is the most important [form of reaching people], with social media advertising a close second. People crave new spots and WOM recommendations. They are very happy to share cool places when they find them,” he added.
According to EL, the industries with the most average weekly WOM impressions are media and entertainment, followed by food/dining, beverages and apparel. The WOM impressions these businesses receive provide vital low-cost marketing to many of those most impacted by the pandemic.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50823413/word-of-mouth-still-dominating-cambodian-consumer-purchase-decisions/