Badvocacy Part II

But with the age of the Internet, these badvocates can have more of an impact than ever before.

Through posting on blogs, submitting online consumer reviews, tweeting on twitter, and updating their status on Facebook, consumers publish their thoughts to a community wider than just their own circle of close friends. They’re telling co-workers, relatives, acquaintances and strangers about any experience they want–good or bad.

Weber Shandwick found that 20 percent of the global adult population is represented by the people they define as badvocates. On average a badvocate will tell 14 other people about their experience in detail. This number is far beyond the average of telling around 5 people of a good experience.

And how easy is it to create a site targeting a company and their incompetency? The Internet swung open the doors for consumers to easily respond both kindly and critically of any business.

According to the Weber Shandwick’s Risky Business: Reputations Online™ study conducted with the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2009, “Nearly four in 10 global executives fear that a dissatisfied customer or critic will launch an online campaign against their company.”

An example of such a campaign is the CNN reported public relations “nightmare” for United Airlines in the spring of 2009.