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In recent years, firms have turned to non-traditional marketing campaigns to generate buzz about their products and services. Indeed, positive word-of-mouth is anecdotally cited as the secret behind such successes as Chrysler''s PT Cruiser and the revival of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Knowing that the average consumer often listens to what trendsetters say, marketers go after specific groups of influential consumers. But they may be missing the mark. Recent research reveals that the most obvious targets for a marketing campaign - loyal customers and tastemakers - may not create the best buzz for the marketing buck. David B Godes and Dina Mayzlin, assistant professors of marketing at the Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management respectively, conducted a field study of a chain store''s word-of-mouth campaign. But the authors wanted a more precise look at who exactly was doing all the talking. So a key element of the research, as described in a July 2004 Harvard Business School marketing research paper, ''Firm-Created Word-of- Mouth Communication: A Field Based Quasi-Experiment'', was to identify the characteristics of the most successful agents so that firms can better understand at whom to target their buzz marketing. Marketers might be tempted, for example, to spur their most loyal customers into evangelizing for them. There is more research to be done, the authors are quick to point out. For instance, the results need to be replicated in other product categories with different characteristics, such as those with a higher price. Nevertheless, this study opens a new window of understanding on how a firm can use buzz marketing to its advantage.