Vegetarianism, Meat Consumption and Word of Mouth

I’m a vegetarian, have been for about 15 years. I don’t eat like this for religious reasons or for health reasons. I do it because I don’t like the taste and texture of meat. Even as a small child, I didn’t eat much meat. There’s something about it that my body doesn’t handle well.

The reason I tell you this is not because I think you care about my dietary preferences (unless you’re offering to bring me lunch some day). I bring this up because I think there’s a lesson here that relates to word of mouth marketing.

I’ve always had people questioning me about why I don’t eat meat and imploring me to try “just one bite”. It seems like, over the past year, these questions and pleas have been as intense as they have ever been. I have to admit that sustained efforts by my family and boyfriend have led to me trying “just one bite” on a few occasions. But, I definitely won’t be abandoning my meat-less ways to order a steak anytime soon!

The circumstances leading up to my meat nibbles do offer a few lessons for marketers hoping for employees, clients or consumers to contribute to word of mouth efforts.

• Easy access. My tastes of meat have not come with out the food being right in front of me (often pushed toward me). Just as I’m not going to go out of my way to try something I don’t really want to eat, most people aren’t going to seek out information to share about your company or initiative. They’ll share it if it’s easily accessible (and easily shareable) to them. Get it in front of them.
• Bite-sized pieces. My meat consumption has not come in meal-sized portions, but in very tiny bites. Similarly, people want to share things that are easily consumable, easily digestible. Shareable information is in chunks that is easy to stick in a tweet, in a Facebook status update or easy to send an email with a “Hey, check this out”. Shareable information is easy to understand and interesting.
• Ask. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking someone to try something or asking them to share the information you want to get out there. I never would have eaten meat without someone else asking me to.
• It doesn’t hurt to offer an incentive. While people who are willing to get the word out there for you don’t usually expect a reward, offering one can be extra incentive or a nice “thank you’ gesture. These incentives don’t have to be huge. For me, the incentive in taking a bite was getting people to (temporarily, at least) quit pushing me to try “just one bite”.

What other principles do you find foster strong word of mouth efforts?

Photo credit: Martin Cathrae