We’re sharing an amazing manifesto Andy wrote based on his book, and we’ve got 10 autographed copies to give away.
Andy’s manifesto is a poetic ode to the unsung and underutilized power of surprise in modern-day business. Here’s a taste:
In a world without Surprise No more “Can’t believe my eyes!” What you’d see is truly—only—what you’d get Life would plod along as planned All supply and no demand Muffled colors, dreary skies In a world with no Surprise
Download the manifesto and win your own signed copy (and check out Andy’s bonus surprise exam): Click here
Straight out of something our friend Andy Nulman would riff on, a 2003 study conducted by Christian Derbaix and Joelle Vanhamme of Belgium’s Université catholique de Louvain shows the influence of surprise on word of mouth.
Through a questionnaire, Derbaix and Vanhamme asked respondents to describe details of a consumption or purchase experience which surprised them as well as details of their last experience with the same kind of product or service which did not surprise them.
The results were as follows:
The frequency and amount of WOM were clearly larger for negatively and positively surprising experiences than for their non surprising counterparts. Highly significant correlations were found between surprise, subsequent emotions and the frequency of WOM.
When hypothesizing why consumers are more likely to engage in word of mouth following a purchase involving surprise, Derbaix and Vanhamme suggest it could be related to the psychological “weight” associated with the event. In other words, telling others relieves us of the potentially overwhelming emotion:
Surprise elicits substantial cognitive work (causal search, causal attribution, schema updating, and so on) and as mentioned by Söderlund (1998), this cognitive burden could lead to more interactions with others to the extent that interactions with others can help the individual in alleviating this burden. Therefore, the likelihood of inducing social sharing (WOM) is high.
This is GasPedal's blog about all things word of mouth marketing. We cover everything from the best word of mouth case studies to the latest research, focusing on the practical ideas you can use to get your fans talking about you.
The Social Media Business Council, formerly the Blog Council, is a brands-only community that helps large organizations build successful social media programs.
Next up in our Word of Mouth Book Club series is Andy Nulman’s Pow! Right Between the Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise. Andy is a brilliant marketer, entrepreneur, and sole owner of the title, “Prince of Pow!” His book is an eye-opening look at the power and potential of surprise marketing.
In a world without Surprise
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