Boomer Women “Word of Mouth” Generates Greater Likelihood of Purchase Intent Than Younger Women

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recognizing the power of personal recommendations in purchasing decisions, Prevention, partnering with Keller Fay Group, has released a first-of-its-kind report that aims to better understand the influence of word-of-mouth (WOM) communications among Baby Boomer women.

The study, which involved an analysis of the conversations of more than 14,000 women over the course of a year, found that Baby Boomer women (43-62) have higher quality WOM than younger women (18-39)—what boomer women say is more credible, they’re more likely to pass on what they hear to others, they’re more likely to seek additional information and they’re more likely to purchase.

The conversations were collected from April 2007 through March 2008 via TalkTrack®, Keller Fay’s ongoing study of the nation's word-of-mouth conversations, in fifteen purchasing categories, including Food & Dining, Personal Care & Beauty, Health & Healthcare, Financial Services and Household Products.

Among the study highlights:

• 68% of Boomer women rate what they hear in their conversations as being very credible, a full 10 points higher than younger women 18-39 (58%).
• 56% of them are likely to pass along what they hear to others, vs. 51% of younger women.

• 39% of Boomer women will seek additional information, compared to 34% of younger women.

• 55% intend to purchase, compared to 50% of the young women.

• Purchase intent for Boomer women is higher than younger women in 14 out of 15 categories, most notably: Food & Dining (71% vs. 64% for women 18-39), Beverages (70% vs. 62%), Personal Care & Beauty (69% vs. 61%), Shopping, Retail & Apparel (69% vs. 60%), Household Products (62% vs. 57%), The Home (60% vs.49%), Travel Services (53% vs. 42%), Financial Services (48% vs. 42%). Younger women are more inclined to purchase in only one category: Media & Entertainment (41% vs. 38% of the Boomer women).

• Beauty & Food Generate the Most Positive Action-Oriented Talk
  • The Beauty & Personal Care category provided the most valuable WOM by Boomer women—it was higher than the younger women’s in all six quality measurements (recommendation, credibility, pass along, additional info-seeking and purchase intent). Baby Boomer talk also revealed a strong “affinity” for beauty brands—Baby Boomer women more often used words like “great and “love it” when sharing their enthusiasm.
  • The top 10 beauty brands talked about by Baby Boomers are: 1. Olay, 2. Dove, 3. Avon, 4. Pantene, 5. Suave, 6. Bath & Body Works, 7. Mary Kay, 8. Crest, 9. L’Oreal, and 10. Revlon.
  • In Food & Dining, Boomer conversations convert to more projected purchases than those of younger women—213 million weekly projected purchases vs. 204 million for younger women. Their conversations also tend to be more credible and create more pass along and information seeking.
  • The top 10 packaged good brands talked about by Baby Boomers are: 1. Kraft, 2. Stouffers, 3. Campbell’s, 4. Lean Cuisine, 5. Kellogg’s, 6. Tyson, 7. Weight Watchers, 8. Gerber, 9. Healthy Choice, and 10. Betty Crocker.
• The top 20 brands Boomer women are more likely to talk about:

																1.		Folgers
																2.		Olay
																3.		Avon
																4.		Walgreens
																5.		Pantene
																6.		Kraft
																7.		Lipton
																8.		JC Penney
																9.		CVS
																10.		Olive Garden
																11.		Kohl’s
																12.		Red Lobster
																13.		Diet Pepsi
																14.		Sears
																15.		Tylenol
																16.		Diet Coke
																17.		Applebee’s
																18.		Fisher Price
																19.		Dove
																20.		Kroger

“Drawing on greater experience and sophistication, the social networks of Boomer women are very powerful, whether it is face to face or Facebook,” says Cary Silvers, Director of Consumer Insights for Prevention, who led the study.

“In this era of less trust in our institutions, marketers would be wise to pay attention to the power and influence of Boomer women talk,” adds Bob Ziltz, VP/publisher of Prevention. “The credibility factor will be the key issue for any marketers looking to connect with Boomer women.“

Methodology

Results are drawn from the Keller/Fay TalkTrack®, the first continuous study of word-of-mouth across all online and offline channels. The study interviews 700 people ages 13+ every week via an online survey, collecting information on conversations people had “yesterday.” In the surveys, respondents described, in detail, their past day’s conversations about products and services. Data is based on 14,654 interviews of women 18+ conducted from April 2007 through March 2008, including 6,728 interviews for Boomer women. The results are weighted by age, gender, education status, and race to reflect the appropriate distribution across the U.S population ages 13- 69.

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Prevention is the #1 healthy lifestyle magazine brand and the 10th largest magazine in the nation, with more than 11 million readers. The top online health magazine destination, www.prevention.com has 1.7 million unique visitors each month. Prevention publishes branded books, most recently the top-selling Flat Belly Diet! (www.flatbellydiet.com), special-interest publications (SIPs), bookazines, DVDs, and 16 international editions. Team Prevention, www.prevention.com/walking, also leads walking marathons across the country. In 2007, Prevention was named to Ad Age’s prestigious “A-List,” won a Folio Ozzie Award for “Best Redesign” and a Capell “Best Performer” Honorable Mention for circulation gains.