The effect of word-of-mouth marketing strategy on the number of buyers: a mathematical perspective

Abstract

In this paper we will present a mathematical model for word of mouth marketing strategy by considering proportional recruitment. We divide a population under consideration into four subpopulations: susceptible – those who are the target market or potential buyers (S), infected – those who are already active as buyers (I), positive – former buyers which have positive comments on the item they purchased (P)  and negative – former buyers which have negative comments on the item they purchased (N). We assume that the rate of new individuals who enter the target market is proportional to the number of S, I, P, and N subpopulations. These subpopulations have either a positive or negative contribution to the number of new entry to the susceptible class or the potential buyer. We analyzed the model emphasizing in the effects of the WOM on the number of buyers and its rate of increase.