Social Information Filtering: Algorithms for Automating "Word of Mouth''

artists, Ringo, recommendations, ratings, algorithms.

This paper describes a technique for making personalized recommendations from any type of database to a user based on similarities between the interest profile of that user and those of other users.
In particular, we discuss the implementation of a networked system called Ringo, which makes personalized recommendations for music albums and artists.
Finally, T, the percentage of target values for which the scheme is able to compute predictions should be maximized.
A social information filtering algorithm is neither personalized nor accurate unless it is a significant improvement over this base case approach.
Upendra Shardanand, ``Social Information Filtering for Music Recommendation'', MIT EECS M. Eng. thesis, also TR-94-04, Learning and Common Sense Group, MIT Media Laboratory, 1994.

marketing, business, customers, advertising, word-of-mouth marketing.

NEW YORK (AP) --- A bind that many small businesses face, particularly in today's tough economy, is how to increase sales on a tight or even nonexistent advertising budget.
Don't worry, say people who put marketing strategies together.
What you'll be doing is weaving customer service with marketing --- if you impress your customers, they'll turn around and tell people they know about you.
It's important to do this not in a haphazard way --- although a great idea might occur out of the blue and of course you should go with it --- but to put together a marketing plan, including special events that will get you and your business more exposure.

community, word-of-mouth marketing, spread, lives, unsatisfactory.

When Sally is not treated well at the local cleaners, she not only doesn't go back there, she tells others of her unpleasant experience.
People tend to readily talk about unsatisfactory service and yet what you want is to have them talk about great service.
Imagine if every person who came to your center told eight people about how you are enhancing the lives of people everyday.
The people you serve are you best vehicle for positive word-of-mouth marketing.
With a little encouragement individuals will help you spread the word to others throughout the community.
Creating this type of visibility is critical - it is the way that the people who want and need what you have can find you.

car, Pattie Maes, price, Ford Taurus, dealer.

Some email discussion ensued, and she returned to the dealer to say she would take the car, but for $16,500.
Delighted with the idea of selling in such volume, the dealer promptly sold the cars at her price.
In the days before Pattie Maes was a mom, and prior to joining MIT's tenure track, she had plenty of time to browse through stores, newspapers and magazines, even cities, with the hope of discovering some piece of treasure.
In July 1994, a program called RINGO became the first instantiation of this concept.
Mind you, this is much more difficult than locating the lowest-priced Ford Taurus or the most inexpensive pair of Porsche sunglasses.

customers, mouth, Webvan, Kelley, dot-coms.

Word of mouth is one of the strongest marketing mediums available -- so strong that some struggling dot-coms, desperate to save advertising dollars, are begging their customers to help spread the word about their products and services.
Kelley and Michele Pelino, director of Internet marketing strategies at the Yankee Group, agreed that word of mouth advertising programs that offer consumers rewards for referring friends are especially effective.
In what Kelley termed a desperate bid to woo and keep customers, chief executive officer Robert Swan of Webvan (Nasdaq: WBVN) e-mailed customers Tuesday to ask for their support in keeping the struggling online grocer afloat.

word-of-mouth, marketing, friend, recommend, Internet.

Yet many small business entrepreneurs do not know how to use it, how it works and how it can be used to meet business objectives.
Most marketing professionals believe that word-of-mouth is the most compelling way to bring in new customers.
We may have repeatedly seen a print ad for customer management software, but oftentimes we will buy the product only if a friend tells us that he or she has tested the product and it worked quite well.
Thanks to the Internet and wireless technologies, it is now easier to get information and advice from other people.
You may choose a teacher to recommend the interactive software you developed to teach kids the value of savings to parents of her students.

marketing, referrals, advertising, coke, traffic generators.

Unlike unsolicited ads (such as "spam"), which stops once it reaches its destination (and the reason spammers must keep spamming in order to remain successful), viral marketing continues to spread almost effortlessly since the people who refer you to others know each other.
In addition, those who get to know you or know about you through third party referrals grant you a higher level of confidence, credibility, and loyalty.
Such tools stimulate word-of-mouth advertising, which is more effective than general advertising.
For along with communicating your existence to the world, word-of-mouth advertising helps to cast that aura of leadership and superiority.

mouth, books, reader, sleepers, Reader Robot.

The following quotes are from the 'Word of Mouth' column found on the last page of each issue of Library Journal.
"Word of Mouth, published monthly in Library Journal, is a reader's advisory service for patrons."
"Half the joy of reading fiction is in the discovery.
Whether a reader is looking for books of similar genre, subject matter, or writing style, sleepers are the most fun to recommend---by word of mouth."
"Feel free to copy this page and display it in your library."
"Word of Mouth is edited by Shirley E. Havens."
Library Journal has an electronic offshoot called LJDigital.

marketing, mouth, advertising, word-of-mouth marketing, business.

A. Word of mouth is universally acknowledged by marketers to be the most powerful force in the marketplace - much more important than advertising, salespeople and all the other marketing methods combined.
Yet, word of mouth is the most neglected part of marketing because most people think you can't do anything about it.
This book shows the reader how to approach this powerful marketing force in a deliberate, organized and systematic matter that can cause multifold increases in sales, while reducing overall marketing expenditures.
I know of no business or industry where word of mouth is not the dominant marketing force.
The decision matrix is a chart that has the different adopter types along one axis and the stages of the decision process along the other.

almanac, lists, tidbits, relating, logophiles.

Ever since I discovered them during high school, Willard Espy's An Almanac of Words at Play and Another Almanac of Words at Play have been incessant sources of amusement, wonder, and quotations for me.
His topics range from parlor games to Mary Ann Madden's marvelous New York Magazine contests, from light verse to lists of amusing headlines, from Tom Swifties to rebuses.
I'll provide Espy-like fare of word games, light verse, etymological tidbits, occasional puzzles, and anything else having to do with words; I'll also include witty tidbits from friends (taking a page from Franklin ("F.P.A.") Adams' column during the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table).
Finally, putting my computational linguistics background to use, I'll also issue occasional tracts on issues relating to technology and language.

W-O-M, Diffusion, Innovations, marketers, acceptance.

After a negative experience, which is more common?
How do marketers react to and use W-O-M?

business, networking, Molly Cox, referrals, clients.

Beyond the benefit of making friends and having people to call on for advice and information, networking can bring you new business.
The ability to acquire new clients and make sales is paramount to any business success.
Prepare your introduction and have a brief statement ready to describe what you do (run it by a friend or colleague to ensure it is interesting and doesn't turn people off).
Acknowledging referrals and treating them like gold is a great way to nurture relationships and keep the referrals coming.
Considering your networking efforts as marketing is simply good business.
If you care about the people that you do business with and treat everyone with respect, you should start experiencing the old adage what goes around, comes around, before you know it.