When does word of mouth versus marketing drive brand performance most?

Emerging markets present opportunities to brand managers who understand the drivers of word of mouth (WOM). What motivates consumers to share positive WOM (PWOM) about brands? Is it their perception of its product attributes, perception of its advertising, or the receipt of WOM from others? In this study, we explore the effects of received WOM (RWOM) and marketing mix and brand perception variables on the transmission of WOM for shampoo products in India and Thailand and contrast them with the mature market of Japan. Vector autoregressive models show that the impact of the studied variables on WOM transmission depends on brand performance stability and consumer involvement with the product category. The marketing mix has a greater impact on WOM transmission than RWOM across the countries for growing (vs. declining) brands. The impact of RWOM on the transmission of PWOM is greater for high- than low-involvement consumers. The difference in the impact of RWOM on the transmission of PWOM depends on the stability of brand performance. Managers should thus consider brand performance stability and consumer involvement versus the marketing mix when trying to stimulate WOM.