In an era of internet marketing and technological advances, it seems that the old fashioned way of marketing is slowly being forgotten. But research has shown that despite all the shift towards internet and social media marketing, the word of mouth approach is still extremely effective and often a preferred marketing technique by many consumers. As Mikal E. Belicove has written, many companies are approaching internet marketing with a word of mouth or referral technique in mind, which could make their marketing strategies more effective. And as people refer products and services to others in real life, consumers will be having high expectations towards the product or service referred to them, therefore companies should strive to provide consistently good products and services in order to capitalize on the marketing which is actually being done by its consumers. And as there are various social, cultural and personal factors affecting consumer behavior, companies should also aim to personalize their internet marketing techniques (such as message boards and discussions or though sharing) in order to encourage referrals which will garner them an even larger consumer base.