“Rumour has it…”. La comunicazione informale nel sistema economico: dal buzz marketing all’aggiotaggio

Abstract

In contrast to the persuasiveness of a public discourse, or with the universal vocation of journalism, the gossip (always underestimated, ignored or even despised for being informal and petty act) should be thought of as an important field of communication, some of the oldest and popular background of the communications. What that too often trying to hide is the collective and structured dimension of rumor: it is considered as an individual occasional speech, equipped with a distinctive topic ("unimportant arguments ") and with a several bad intentions ("hard" or even "wicked") and sociologists ignore the social importance its spreads. Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers and linguists (as Einstein, Heidegger, Umberto Eco and Primo Levi) are committed, since many years, to find the key of this universal phenomenon. The gossipy chatter is an expression that coexists with other social forms of community and, if once were the weapon of women, excluded from power, today circulating freely in every corner of life, amplified and multiplied thanks to the new means of communication. Obviously, even in the economic system, informal communication plays a key role, because the stakes are so numerous that is impossible that in the business plan strategies and in those communicative even gossip fit in. The informations transfer from mouth to mouth is the sale of media. It is through a direct face to face that customers and suppliers communicate with each other. Each "visit" of a seller to one of its customers is an opportunity to doubt the reliability of competing brands or to consolidate their trust relationship with the interested. In Stock Exchange, however, we talk about rumors instead of leaked out rumours that may anticipate any decisions or operations of a Company. It's easy to understand how such information can influence the choices of investors changing, consequently the entire economic environment. [edited by Author]