Save it or spend it? Advertising decisions amid consumer word-of-mouth

(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) Most people have seen or heard from a friend, neighbor or family member about a product or service they've used and how their experience was. It's called observational learning or word-of-mouth. These communications don't provide an unbiased assessment of true quality. Given this, businesses are faced with the difficult decision of determining when and how to spend their ad dollars.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news