PrepTest 146, Section 3, Question 9
Organized word-of-mouth marketing campaigns are driven by product(59 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(9 more words not shown)
- AWord-of-mouth marketing campaigns(17 more words not shown)
- BThose who tend(24 more words not shown)
- CMost people who(16 more words not shown)
- DMost word-of-mouth marketing(12 more words not shown)
- EWhen a word-of-mouth(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Wouldn't admitting that you're part of an advertising campaign make the recommendation less convincing? Imagine a friend telling you how great a soft drink is. Now imagine the friend adding, 'The company asked me to promote it.' You might wonder whether the praise is sincere.
What we’re looking for
Yet the campaigns do better when the booster discloses that connection. We need something that makes the admission helpful despite the usual advantage of hearing a recommendation from a friend rather than an advertisement. Maybe openness makes the person seem more honest: 'At least you're telling me where this recommendation comes from.' That transparency could make the message easier to take seriously. Let's see what benefit the answers identify.
Working the answers
- A
This could explain why a business chooses word-of-mouth promotion for a specialty product. It doesn't explain why that promotion works better when the booster discloses the affiliation. The same specialty product could be promoted with or without disclosure, so the surprising comparison remains.
- B
These consumers are relatively unaffected by learning the booster's affiliation. That doesn't tell us why disclosure improves a campaign's results. It identifies people for whom the information makes little difference, without identifying a benefit that would explain the improvement.
- C
How the boosters were recruited doesn't explain what happens when they tell friends about their affiliation. Whether a recruiter approached them in person or through an advertisement, we still need to know why being open about the organized campaign helps.
- D
Lower costs might be a reason to prefer word-of-mouth advertising over mass-media advertising. But we're comparing two versions of word-of-mouth advertising: one discloses the booster's connection and one doesn't. D doesn't explain why disclosure makes that version more successful.
- ECorrect
Disclosure opens the door to a more relaxed, detailed conversation about the product. That gives us a benefit of admitting the affiliation: people can talk about the product, ask questions, and learn more about it. Such a conversation could make the promotion more effective even if listeners know it is advertising.
I was thinking about transparency and trust. E gives us a more concrete route through the quality of the discussion. We don't have to show that everyone becomes less skeptical or believes every claim. The improved conversation can help explain the better results.
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