Digital CPG Blog

This week, you will probably see those with whom you have strong emotional bonds for Thanksgiving. And the most influential word-of-mouth effects arise when people tied together by those bonds share and spread a message.

“You will naturally listen more to recommendations and opinions from your family and close friends than from people you do not know. This insight was strengthened by a Harvard Business Review study showing that out of the famous ‘Six degrees of separation,’ only the first three degrees of social connectedness actually have impact on people’s behaviour and opinions,” reports the Word of Mouth newsletter.

But there is also a gray area, and this loophole helps to explain the influence of bloggers:

“The grey area I am referring to holds the people you know well but don’t have truly close emotional ties with. That guy you went to school with and you now meet from time to time through common friends but that you never really hang out with, would qualify as such a ‘grey area connection.’ Beyond the grey area, you have people you do not know as well, and they may actually be more influential than your grey area connections. I recently found a post over at PsyBlog that made me think that this may be the case. PsyBlog lists a number of studies showing that the better you get to know people, the less you seem to like them.”

Bloggers and other social media influencers build relationships with followers without letting them get too close, argue the authors.

What do you think? Do you buy this line of thought? I think it’s more probable that followers perceive that they do actually have a relationship with the influencer. The influencer wouldn’t define it as such, but the follower feels very connected, thus willing to follow in the influencer’s footsteps.