[Webcast Q&A 2-17-10] What about Negative Influencers? [Customer Community - Holy Grail for WOM] [ Edited ]

[IngridS]

Attendee #23:
Are these communities monitored and/or led by a company moderator? My concern would be that the conversation would be hijacked and diverted to non-productive topics. I've seen this happen with other forums and it ruined the forum.

Attendee #24:
Is there any evidence of communities amplifying negative perceptions that decreases ROI?

Attendee #25:
It would be interesting to have the academic community to study the effect of communities and influencers on the current Toyota situation.  A good study of negative influencers.

Attendee #26:
Just an observation we've had here in the Northwest:  The community has a way of "self-monitoring" negative influencers.  There is actually an interesting "herd effect" from lesser influencers to silence a lot of the negative effects.  That is, there is a natural tendency to bring out the real truth.

[MikeW Lithium Guru]

[Question from Attendee #23] Are these communities monitored and/or led by a company moderator? My concern would be that the conversation would be hijacked and diverted to non-productive topics. I've seen this happen with other forums and it ruined the forum.

[Response] That is why we recommend moderation. However, moderator should only intercept discussions that are not on topic or violated some rules or the spirit of the community. However, it should not intercept negative comments. Too much hands on control like a dictator will hurt the credibility and objectivity of the community. It will also reduce consumer trust and decrease the influence from WOM from that community. Negative sentiments and comments should be allowed.

[MikeW Lithium Guru]

[Question from Attendee #24] Is there any evidence of communities amplifying negative perceptions that decreases ROI?

[Response] This is rather industry independent. Some industry like music, entertainment are not affected by negativity as much. So any WOM, whether it is positive or negative, is good WOM, and it simply draws more attention and drive awareness. In these industry, even negative WOM can increase ROI. That is right, I meant increase.

Negative WOM seem to affect service oriented industry more. I can reduce ROI, but it really depends on how the company deals with the negativity. If the negativity is due to a valid problem, and the company address it and fix the problem. This could gain even more consumer trust. There is a famous incident of Dell Laptop on fire, where the Dell apologize and address the problem in a timely manner. The way Dell dealt with this incidence have boosted consumer confidence and gain many loyal Dell fans.

[MikeW Lithium Guru]

I couldn't agree more with Attendee #26 from Northwest.

In fact, I see this all the time. The community actually self-polices itself and silences the trouble makers. In fact, this is so common that I've decided to write a blog about it.

If you still worry about negativity out on the social web, take a look at my blog:

Crowdsourcing the "Social Revolution" - Your Weapon Against Negative WOM.