Editor’s note: Shelly Sekki is president of marketing and advertising firm WorkPlace Impact, Cleveland. Brad Fay is the chief operating officer of marketing research firm Keller Fay Group (a unit of Engagement Labs) and chief reserach officer, Engagment Labs, Brunswick, N.J.

Word-of-mouth (WOM) has always been a huge driver of consumer decision-making. Studies have shown that consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than any other form of advertising. However, its effects in the workplace – a place where people spend almost half their waking hours – have gone largely unnoticed.

We recently worked to release the Water Cooler Report, a study that quantifies conversations about brands around the proverbial water cooler. The study found that not only are conversations about restaurants, retail, consumer packaged goods and other brands common at work, they are also influential in convincing someone to purchase a product.

Put simply, WOM is the passing of information through interpersonal communication – online or offline. WOM marketing actively encourages conversations about brands and products. WOM determines 13 percent of all consumer purchasing – or $6 trillion – according to a recent study by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Why is WOM important in the workplace?

Since we spend so much time in the office, socializing has shifted to our cubicles. Many of us are turning to our coworkers – instead of our neighbors – for advice on purchases. This WOM haven is perfect for marketers who want their message to travel beyond the people their ads touch.

Because they are often time-starved, employees make many of their purchasing decisions at work: building grocery lists, choosing which casual restaurant to visit for lunch and deciding where to buy a new outfit on the way home. At-work consumers have strong buying power and product-focused WOM helps convince them what to buy and where to buy it.

Among all consumers 18-to-60, 12 percent of conversations about brands occur at work. When looking at full-time employees and conversations that happen Monday-to-Friday, that number doubles to 25 percent, which translates into nearly a billion instances in which people are exposed to brands at work through WOM.

One of the most important findings of our study is on the quality of WOM in the workplace. We found that these conversations are highly likely to be passed on to others and almost half (48 percent) of these discussions are highly likely to lead to purchase.

When people discuss brands at work, they praise the product or service more often than they disparage it. Sixty-nine percent of all WOM among workplace talkers – the study’s term for people who talk about brands at work – is mostly positive. Plus, 40 percent of all conversations include a recommendation to buy.

Workplace talkers are more likely than average to qualify as influencers in food and dining. They are connected to a lot of people and regularly give advice to others about restaurant and food-related packaged goods brands. Workplace talkers are also far more likely to be influential in categories like beverages, beauty/personal care, health and retail/apparel.

Thirty-four percent of workplace talkers engage in WOM about retail brands on any given day. These conversations are overwhelmingly positive – 73 percent positive vs. 5 percent negative. The most-discussed retail brands during the workweek are Walmart, Target and Amazon.com.

Consumer packaged goods brands are another key point of conversation and are discussed by 36 percent of workplace talkers – they are also 15 times more likely to do so positively than negatively. Soft drinks are common topics: Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Mountain Dew are the most-discussed CPG brands at work. The top three restaurant brands discussed at work are McDonald’s, Burger King and Subway. Twenty-four percent of workplace talkers engage in dining-brand WOM each day.

Driving workplace conversations

Most marketers agree that word-of-mouth is an important driver of business. However, few are thinking specifically about strategies and tactics to drive workplace conversations. We recommend thinking in terms of three Ts: 

  • Target: People who talk about brands in the workplace tend to have above-average education and incomes, and most are executives, professionals or work in office jobs. Brands interested in this attractive demographic should take advantage of opportunities to reach them at work and should design their pitch to emphasize convenience, time-savings, affordable indulgences and upward mobility.
  • Timing: Researching and determining the most appropriate time for brand messaging to reach consumers is also important in a workplace WOM campaign. Messages targeted for the morning drive-time are more apt to be shared at work. Restaurant and packaged prepared meals that arrive just prior to lunch are ideally suited for coworkers taking about what to eat for lunch.
  • Triggers: A key element of any WOM strategy is developing triggers that will prompt people to talk. Advertisements and public relations campaigns can be designed to be discussed, as can workplace posters and coupons. When conducting research, focus less on the conversation your brand is having with its consumers and more on the conversation consumers are having with each other. Marketing collateral should focus on the language you’d like one employee to share with another.

It’s important for WOM in the workplace to be a focus of any marketing plan looking to influence this valuable audience with above-average disposable income. If you’re trying to increase sales in a particular area, geotargeting can be used to find offices best-suited for implementing marketing programs. Marketers can then use tactics in offices such as distributing coupons; putting up promotional displays such as posters, table tents and clings; using traditional print advertisements; implementing sampling programs of the product; and hosting experiential events to insert brands into workplace conversations.

Methodology: Keller Fay Group’s findings are drawn from TalkTrack. Respondents, ages 13-to-69, are recruited to take part in this online survey and take notes on conversations over 24 hours with the assistance of a diary. They are contacted again a day later to answer questions about the brands they discussed, which are collected on an open-ended basis. The study sample is drawn from large online consumer panels, demographically balanced to U.S. Census and includes 700 interviews weekly (3,000 monthly; 36,000 annually).