August 2007
← July 2007 | Research Blog Home | September 2007 →
Ten percent of tech journalists report that changes in social medial have dramatically impacted they way they work, indicating, "I feel as if I have a new job now," according to recent research from Fusion PR.
Seventy-eight percent of tech bloggers say they read blogs, 31% say they regard bloggers as credible sources, and 67% say they cite bloggers in their articles. Forty-nine percent read between one and three blogs, and the majority of tech journalists read blogs several times a day.
Other findings:
* 40% of tech journalists say social media has impacted their stories and the way they cover news.
* 35% of tech journalists say they maintain their own blog.
* The majority of tech journalists turn to search engines to research companies and trends.
Learn more (Fusion PR)
Due in large part to a big push from social networking growth, revenue from mobile user-generated content is expected to jump to 10 times its current rate by 2012, according to a report released from Juniper Research. The company projects that the number of people using social networks will grow from 14 million in 2007 to a whopping 600 million in 2012.
Among the current hurdles to social network participation, Juniper included: privacy, cost of data services, user-interface, and network speed and capacity, as well as others. Company analysts expect that social networking will overcome these obstacles and reach its full potential.
Learn more (Press Release)
Learn more (Juniper Research)
The proliferation of social networks and blogs has made it even easier for college students to keep tabs on what their friends are doing. And this has grander applications than knowing where the next big party is taking place. According to a recent article from WOMMA member company eMarketer, which sited June 2007 research from YouthTrends, 59% of college students pick word of mouth as their preferred method for learning about new products and services. Another 13% of college students choose online product reviews as their preferred way for learning about new stuff.
According to eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson, "The fact that students favor word of mouth, combined with their use of social networking, indicates that they are a strong audience for online word or mouth marketing efforts." Something smart companies already know.
Learn more (eMarketer)
It seems like a no-brainer: On retail sites that include customer ratings and reviews, a high number of positive reviews will positively impact product sales, while a high number of negative reviews will negatively impact sales. This conclusion comes out of recent research from Hila Etzion, professor at the University of Michigan, along with analyses that caution retailers against ratings and reviews functionality.
While the potential for any negative outcome at all might be enough to spook some retailers away from ratings and reviews, the real message should be: Consumers are listening to peer reviews, are you? If a large majority of customer reviews indicate that a certain product isn't worth purchasing, maybe that's an indication that the product needs another look. The fault is probably in the source more so than the messenger.
Learn more
Fifty-one percent of the Inc. 500 companies are utilizing RSS feeds, web stats, video download tracking, and online activity from their competition as ways to monitor social media, according to a recent study from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth's Center for Marketing Research. Study authors also found that in companies like these, where social media is a "valued part of the culture," keeping tabs on how others in the business world are putting social media to use is extremely important.
"Inc. 500 companies are saying that not only is it important for us to communicate in an outbound way, but it's also important to listen to what is going on out there and what other companies are saying," said study co-author and marketing and social media consultant Eric Mattson. Reading the corporate blogs of their biggest competitors is one way the surveyed companies keep an ear to the ground for trends that can inform their own social media moves.
Learn more (Inc.)
Learn more (University of Massachusetts)
BtoB companies are quick to embrace new media techniques, according to a new joint study from BtoB magazine and the Association of National Advertisers, titled "Harnessing the Power of New Media Platforms." According to the study, more than half of BtoB companies are using blogs, podcasts, and RSS feeds or plan to use them in the next year, and more than a quarter are using or plan to use social networks, viral video, and wikis. The majority of new media efforts within the BtoB world are aimed at brand building, according to the survey, while others are geared towards demand generation and customer loyalty.
Other findings:
* BtoB companies who use new media rate the effectiveness of the platforms very highly (8-10 on a 10-point scale). Nearly a quarter (23%) of BtoB users gave viral video a high rating, 21% of podcast users, 17% of blog users, 14% of wiki users, 14% of RSS feed users, and 10% of social network users.
* 58% of BtoB viral video users indicate they have processes in place to measure the ROI of the new media platforms they use, as well as 45% of podcast users, 25% of RSS feed users, 25% of blog users, 24% of social network users, and 9% of wiki users.
Learn more (BtoB Online)
Learn more (BtoB Online -- 2nd Story)
Between June 2006 and June 2007, major social networks -- including MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Friendster, Orkut, Bebo, and Tagged -- garnered major site traffic growth, according to recent research from WOMMA member company comScore. Social networking site Tagged grew its worldwide traffic by 774%, while Facebook and MySpace leapt 270% and 72% respectively.
Other findings:
* Daily visitation increased among social networking sites, including MySpace (72%), Facebook (299%), Hi5 (65%), Friendster (96%), Orkut (75%), and Bebo (307%).
* 62.1% of MySpace visitors and 68.4% of Facebook visitors are based in North America.
* 62.5% of Bebo visitors are based in Europe.
Learn more (comScore)
Learn more (ClickZ)
Eight out of 10 U.S. shoppers trust brands that use customer ratings and reviews functionality more so than their review-free counterparts, according to a July survey from WOMMA member companies Bazaarvoice and Vizu Corporation. The survey also found that 75% of shoppers say it is "extremely" or "very important" to peruse customer reviews before making a purchase decision.
Other findings:
* 85% of consumers prefer peer reviews over expert reviews.
* U.S. shoppers rate customer reviews as the most useful site feature (44%) over product comparison (15%), product navigation (12%), and privacy information (11%).
* More than half of U.K. shoppers say customer rating and review information is important.
Learn more (Bazaarvoice)
Learn more (Media Post)
Teens talk about brands twice as much as their adult counterparts, according to recent research from WOMMA member company the Keller Fay Group. Of the 145 conversations per week teens have about brands, advertising and marketing comes up in over half (57%) of them, while adults only talk about advertising in 48% of their brand-related conversations. And while the number of teens' favorable brand mentions (50%) lags somewhat behind adults' (64%), the finding shows teens' conversations are surprisingly positive.
Other findings:
- 19% of teens' word of mouth happens online, versus only 7% for adults.
- 75% of teens talk about media and entertainment.
- 68% talk about recreation and hobbies.
- 67% talk about technology.
- 65% talk about telecom.
- 62% talk about food and dining.
The number of word of mouth influencers is expected to jump from 26.8 million in 2007 (17.5% of the U.S. population) to 34.4 million in 2011 (20.0%), according to a June 2007 report from WOMMA member company eMarketer. In an environment where the number of consumers identified as WOM influencers is growing, it's more important than ever for companies to find sure-fire ways to reach them.
So how do you do that? Well, more than half (55.6%) of adult influencers turn to family and friends as a source of information, according to the "Media Myths & Realities, 2006 Media Usage Survey" that was conducted by Ketchum and the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center. Over one-third (34.6%) of influencers seek advice from co-workers, while 20.7% turn to blogs and 18.6% turn to social networking sites for information.
U.S. consumers in general still trust family, friends, and acquaintances over other information sources, according to a report released this month from Bridge Ratings and the University of Massachusetts. Consumers give family and friends an 8.6 on a scale from 1-10, while advertising rates only 2.2 on the trust scale.
With recent findings that more than 29,000 sex offenders have registered on MySpace, parents and politicians are in a scramble to put measures in place that protect social networking teens. But, according to recent research from the Journal of Adolescence, the situation might not be as dire as many MySpace critics suggest.
Sameer Hinduja, criminologist assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University, and Justin Patchin, political science researcher at the University of Wisconsin, studied a random sample of 9,282 MySpace profiles and found that over one-third of users 18 and under had wisely set their profiles to "private," allowing only prescreened "friends" access to their profile information. Of the remaining public profiles of underage users, only 8% revealed their full name, 4% included an instant messaging name, 1% listed an email address, and 0.3% revealed their phone number. Ideally, with education, age verification, and increased parental monitoring, those figures will all drop to zero.
MySpace and Facebook are both making sweeping efforts to scrub their respective sites of would-be threats. MySpace deleted the 29,000 identified sex offenders from its registry and is using background verification company Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. and its database of convicted sex offenders to identify and remove unwelcome users. Facebook's platform, by design, limits contact between people of different age groups by preventing adults from contacting young users if they are not affiliated with the same school network.
Learn more (ABC News in Science)
Learn more (Reuters)
Learn more (Advertising Age)
According to WOMMA member company comScore's Video Metrix report, U.S. internet users viewed more than 8.3 billion video streams online in May. Of the 75% of U.S. internet users who watched online video, each logged an average of 158 minutes of viewing time, which suggests that viewers are doing more with their online video viewing than watching 30-second clips of cats flushing toilets on YouTube.
According to new data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 19% of online adults view at least one online video daily, and 57% have viewed online video at least once. While online video is still most popular with younger users (31% of 18 to 29-year-olds watch daily, according to Pew), a recent report from WOMMA member company eMarketer predicts that by 2008, 50% of the U.S. population will watch video online.
Other findings:
* According to Pew, 62% of online video viewers prefer professional content, while 19% prefer consumer-generated content. Only 43% of men aged 18 to 29 prefer professional content and 34% prefer CGM.
* According to comScore, the average duration for a viewed video stream in May was 2.5 minutes, and the average viewer watched 63 video streams, which averages to more than two per day.
Learn more (Marketing Charts)
Learn more (MarketingVOX)
Learn more (Media Posts's Just an Online Minute)
← July 2007 | Research Blog Home | September 2007 →
This is old content! The Research Blog has been retired. For the new stuff, visit 
