BzzAgent Enhances Word-of-Mouth Disclosure Policy; Decision Result of Published Corporate Study.

BOSTON -- BzzAgent, Inc., the industry's fastest growing word-of-mouth marketing and research firm, today announced it has enhanced its internal policies to ensure the company's entire community of 120,000 volunteers prioritizes campaign disclosure. The revised policy is the result of a new BzzAgent study that positively correlates word-of-mouth disclosure with campaign performance. The report, entitled The Practical Value of Disclosure, is available for free on BzzAgent's website (www.bzzagent.com/downloads/BzzAgent_Value_of_Disclosure.pdf).

The strengthened policy now requires all new BzzAgent community registrants to verify that they have read and accepted the company's Code of Conduct. The foremost requirement in the Code instructs campaign participants to make certain others are aware they have volunteered to be involved in a word-of-mouth campaign.

The firm has also integrated a disclosure "check box" into its reporting template. This feature enables participants to quickly and easily acknowledge that their conversational partner was aware of their affiliation with BzzAgent. Should BzzAgent determine that a particular community member is not adhering to its policy, the company will require the individual to complete a disclosure-related online training session prior to being offered future campaigns.

"Requiring disclosure is not just the proper decision from an ethical standpoint," said Dave Balter, CEO of BzzAgent and co-author of Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing (Portfolio), "but it is also the smart policy to drive optimal campaign performance. Our goal is to ensure transparency by educating and training our valued community of volunteers."

The company's new whitepaper incorporates narratives contained in its inventory of 270,000 word-of-mouth reports and recent statistical data compiled by Dr. Walter Carl of Northeastern University. Balter said the report's conclusions - namely that disclosure creates peer trust, combats "stealth" stigma, supports perceived product value, and increases depth and reach of product-related discussions - was the catalyst for the policy enhancement.

"Today's BzzAgent whitepaper creates what I believe to be the strongest business case for disclosure, and we hope other companies use this information to develop programs that maintain honest and effective word of mouth," Balter added.

According to Director of Communications Jon O'Toole, BzzAgent's disclosure policy has evolved gradually. "We brought the disclosure issue to light last year when we became the first word-of-mouth marketing firm to require volunteers to be transparent about their participation in campaigns. Now we are driving home the urgency of disclosure by putting controls in place to empower consumers to be more effective at spreading word of mouth."

About BzzAgent, Inc.

BzzAgent, Inc. is a word-of-mouth marketing and research firm located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company encourages network of brand evangelists, described by The New York Times' Magazine as "fast-growing legions of volunteers," to share their honest opinion about products and services with other consumers. BzzAgent's proprietary process and system, called the BzzEngine(TM), allows it to provide diligent, systemized and measurable word-of-mouth marketing campaigns. BzzAgent has over 100 clients, including Anheuser-Busch, Cadbury Schweppes, Lee Jeans, Levi's, Penguin Putnam Publishing, Ralph Lauren, and Sun Microsystems. Find more information, or sign up to become a BzzAgent, at www.bzzagent.com.

BzzAgent and BzzEngine are trademarks of BzzAgent, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.