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December 23, 2006 6:10 PM

Does anyone know of a research paper that states recommendations for a product/service/company are liked more? For example, if I recommend a book to a friend, they will end up liking it more. It seems to make sense to me, but I was hoping there was some research that confirmed this.
posted by lpctstr; to Society & Culture (10 answers total)

I haven't got any specific citations for you, but try searching for "word of mouth".
posted by divabat at 6:35 PM on December 23, 2006

What you're refering to is known as "social proof". This article talks about it and has links to more information.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 6:42 PM on December 23, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'm specifically looking for published academic research papers. I've done searches on word of mouth and social proof with no luck. Basically, it would be nice if some paper said something like "a recommendation is liked more on average".
posted by lpctstr; at 7:08 PM on December 23, 2006

I don't have anything specific, but while you're searching, you might look under "cognitive dissonance" as well--the idea being that it is uncomfortable to disagree with our friends, so we have an implicit incentive to make our opinions match theirs. Might be something there.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:41 PM on December 23, 2006

This article is old, but may be a place to start.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:45 PM on December 23, 2006

Here's one:
I heard it through the grapevine : issues in referral marketing

Referral marketing seems to get quite a few hits on Google Scholar.
posted by MsMolly at 7:51 PM on December 23, 2006

In the academic communications field, Paul Lazarsfeld is very influential. Try:

"Personal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communications"

The concept of the "opinion leader" is an important concept in Lazarsfeld's work, and it refers to a individual in a group whose opinion is highly valued due to his or her knowledge on a topic, whether that be a political issue, consumer choice, ethical, etc. I think he started out researching how the American elections were influenced by interaction among groups of people, but he has a wide body of research which is applicable to many communication-related fields, including marketing. He published many more articles but this one seems most relevant from the title.
posted by catburger at 8:08 PM on December 23, 2006

You may also want to look at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association website.
posted by catburger at 8:13 PM on December 23, 2006

The bibliography in this book may have what you need.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:38 PM on December 23, 2006

Interesting. I have sometimes encountered a related behavior: a friend will resist a recommendation repeatedly until, somehow, some time later, they are introduced to the recommended item through other influence, and they come back and now agree about how great it is. This has happened many times with several different folks and with varying items (books, movies, tools, whatever). Maybe I just have stubborn friends. Or maybe the recommendation sets up a feeling in the person that it can't really be as good as claimed. It's at times frustrating.
posted by xiojason at 2:39 PM on December 24, 2006