Text 100 Blogger Survey Results Germany

Blogger Survey 2009 GERMANY June 2009

Survey Methodology • Text 100 conducted the survey based predominantly on relationships with technology, news and lifestyle bloggers across 21 countries. This is the report for Germany; • Text 100 was responsible for respondent identification and recruiting, while Aha! Research programmed and collected responses via an online survey, analyzed, and reported the results; • A total of 30 surveys were analyzed. • Note that for some questions the sample size is small and should be interpreted with care; • All surveys were offered in English; • Survey period: April 6 to May 11, 2009. 2

Bloggers’ interest in contact with PR people Bloggers generally welcome contact from PR firms or a corporation to provide information, comments, and suggestions. Bloggers in APAC are slightly more welcoming than their counterparts in the USA and Europe 93% 87% 89% (2008: 66%) APAC EURO USA Q.1: Do you welcome any contact from Public Relations (PR) firms or any corporation to provide information, offer comment or suggest people you might be interested in talking to? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 3

Bloggers’ past contact with PR people Bloggers report that contact initiated by a PR firm or corporation varies from 70% in APAC to 100% in the USA 100% 86% 70% (2008: 66%) APAC EURO USA Q.2a: Have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months about areas you have been focused on or are interested in? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 4

Bloggers’ interest and past contact with PR people - Germany Welcome any contact from PR firm? 73% of the bloggers welcome contact from PR firms or corporations to provide information, comments, and suggestions. No 27% Past 6 months contact? No 3% Yes 73% Most (97%) of the Yes respondents have 97% been contacted in the past 6 months Q.1: Do you welcome any contact from Public Relations (PR) firms or any corporation to provide information, offer comment or suggest people you might be interested in talking to? (n=30) Q.2a: Have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months about areas you have been focused on or are interested in? (n=30) 5

Frequency of contact 100% 4% 7% 7% 90% 21% 8% 80% 15% Almost all surveyed Less than once every two months 18% bloggers (96%) in the USA 13% Once every two months 70% get contacted by PR firms 11% Once a month or corporations once a 60% Once a week 13% week or more often. In More than once a week Europe (65%) and Asia 50% 31% (36%) bloggers get Daily contacted once a week or 40% 23% More than once a day more often 30% 63% 12% 10% Once 20% a 14% week 10% or 19% 4% more 6% often 0% APAC EURO USA Q.2b: How frequently have you been contacted any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months? (n= APAC:163, EURO:163, USA:27) 6

Frequency of contact - Germany Almost half (47%) got contacted once a month or more often 100% 90% 17% More than once a day Past 6 months contact? 3% 80% Daily 10% No 70% 3% More than once a week 60% 17% 50% Once a week Yes 40% 97% 31% Once a month 30% Once every two months 20% 17% Less than once every two 10% months 0% 3% Q.2b: How frequently have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months? (n=29) 7

Preferred means of contact 6,3 Email Mean score 6,0 5,7 on 7-point scale 3,6 Face-to-face 4,1 4,5 Email is the most preferred means of About half of bloggers in APAC 3,0 Comment on blog 4,1 contact with bloggers, and Europe indicate their 4,3 preferred means of contact on while SMS and IM are their blog 3,0 least preferred. APAC Micro-blogging 3,8 4,1 bloggers seem to be 57% 52% 3,0 more flexible in their Social networking invitation 3,3 preferred means of 4,1 contact 30% 3,0 Telephone 2,8 3,9 USA 1,9 EURO Instant Messaging (IM) 2,4 3,8 APAC APAC EURO USA 1,6 SMS 1,7 3,4 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 7-point scale where 1=“Very Low preference” and 7=“Very high preference” Q.3a: Please indicate to what extent you prefer each of the following means of contact from PR firms or corporations on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is “Very low preference” and 7 is “Very high preference” (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) Q4: Do you indicate your most preferred form of contact on your blog? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 8

Preferred means of contact - Germany Email is the most preferred means of contact among bloggers Any indication of By email 5,3 preferred means of Comment on your blog 3,9 contact shown on By face-to-face meeting 3,6 their blogs? By micro-blogging platform 3,4 Mean score on 7-point 47% of bloggers indicate By social networking invitation 3,0 scale their most preferred form By instant messaging 2,1 of contact on their blogs By telephone 1,9 By SMS 1,2 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 7-point scale where 1=“Very Low preference” and 7=“Very high preference” Q.3a: Please indicate to what extent you prefer each of the following means of contact from PR firms or corporations on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is “Very low preference” and 7 is “Very high preference” (n=30) Q4: Do you indicate your most preferred form of contact on your blog? (n=30) 9

Contact required before information distribution? In APAC, 88% prefer an introduction before Introductory face-to-face meetings with new receiving information from a PR firm or contacts are more important in APAC than in corporation with whom they have not had prior Europe or the USA contact, compared with only 41% in the USA 88% 4,1 77% 3,0 2,8 41% APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA Q.5: If a PR firm or corporation with whom you had no prior contact wants to send you their press releases or other information, do you prefer them to contact you first to introduce themselves, or just send you their information without an introduction? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) Q.6: How important you feel it is to have a face-to-face meeting before receiving information from a PR agency or corporation with whom you have not worked with before? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 10

Contact required before information distribution? - Germany 70% of bloggers prefer to be introduced before receiving information from a PR firm or corporation with whom they have not had prior contact How important is a face-to-face introduction meeting? Prefers no Many of these bloggers introductio don‟t think a face-to-face meeting is n important 30% Prefers introductio On a 7-point „importance scale‟, the mean n is 2.93 which is leaning towards the “Not 70% Important” side of the scale Q.5: If a PR firm or corporation with whom you had no prior contact wants to send you their press releases or other information, do you prefer them to contact you first to introduce themselves, or just send you their information without an introduction? (n=30) Q.6: How important you feel it is to have a face-to-face meeting before receiving information from a PR agency or corporation with whom you have not worked with before? (n=30) 11

Interest in selected types of content 6,0 Research, insights, new product development news 5,6 5,3 5,0 Opinionated responses to your blog posts 5,2 Mean score 5,5 on 7-point 5,0 Products to review 5,4 The most preferred content by scale 5,0 bloggers is news of new product 5,6 Interviews with key people 5,0 5,2 development and products for review, as well as feedback from 4,7 Market trend and forecast/analysis 4,7 4,8 USA readers and interviews with key people. 5,2 EURO Product announcements 4,8 4,4 APAC 4,3 Bloggers show the least interest Competitive product analysis 4,2 4,7 in corporate news 4,3 announcements Event announcements 4,3 4,6 Long-term and strategic related content about 3,8 3,9 corporations 4,4 3,5 Corporate news announcements 3,1 3,5 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 7-point scale where 1=“Not interested at all” and 7=“Very interested” Q.8a: Now let‟s talk about your preferred content for your blog. For each of the following types of content, please use this scale where 1 means you are not interested at all and 7 means you are very interested in this content. (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 12

Interest in selected types of content - Germany Research insights / new product development news is the most sought after content type while corporate news announcements is of least interest Research, insights, new product development news 5,5 Market trend and forecast/analysis 5,1 Opinionated responses to your blog posts 4,9 Interviews with key people 4,6 Long-term and strategic related content about corporations 4,2 Competitive product analysis 3,9 Mean score Products to review 3,9 on 7-point Product announcements 3,5 scale Event announcements 3,3 Corporate news announcements 2,9 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 7-point scale where 1=“Not interested at all” and 7=“Very interested” Q.8a: Now let‟s talk about your preferred content for your blog. For each of the following types of content, please use this scale where 1 means you are not interested at all and 7 means you are very interested in this content. (n=30) 13

Content format: Frequency of usage 74% Photographs 88% 88% 37% Charts and graphs 44% Photographs are the most 41% frequently used content forms while podcasts are least USA 37% frequently used Video streaming 43% EURO 34% APAC 15% Video podcast 26% 16% % who used 15% “a few times a Audio podcast 13% month” or more 15% frequently Q.9: How frequently have you used each of the following content formats on your blog over the past 6 months? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 14

Content format: Frequency of usage - Germany Photographs are the most frequently used content type with 86% of the surveyed bloggers using them a few times a month or more. Video or audio podcasts are used less than a few times in the past 6 months by more than 73% of the bloggers Daily Few times a week Few times a month Few times in past 6 months Less often Not at all Photographs 30% 37% 20% 7% 7% Charts and graphs 10% 20% 27% 17% 10% 17% Video streaming 13% 33% 17% 7% 30% Video podcast 10% 17% 20% 20% 33% Audio podcast 3% 17% 10% 10% 60% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Q.9: How frequently have you used each of the following content formats on your blog over the past 6 months? (n=30) 15

Social Media Releases Among those aware of SMRs, effectiveness evaluation is on the positive side (7-point Social Media Releases (SMRs) have “effectiveness scale where highest awareness amongst APAC 7=Very effective) bloggers (48%) (note: small USA sample size) 5,3 48% 4,8 5,0 38% 26% APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA Q.10a: Have you ever heard of a Social Media Release (definition provided in the questionnaire? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) Q.10b: How effective do you think Social Media Releases are as a means to keep you updated on corporations? (7-point scale) (n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7) 16

Social Media Releases Bloggers generally experienced an increase over the past year in the usage of SMRs by companies to communicate with them (note: small USA sample size) 68% 63% 57% APAC EURO USA Q.10c: Compared with a year ago, to what extent are companies using Social Media Releases to communicate with you and other bloggers? (n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7) 17

Social Media Releases - Germany SMR Effectiveness Among those who have heard of SMRs, 50% feel they are a very effective means of keeping them updated on corporations (note: small sample size) Compared with a year ago, 50% About half of the surveyed of bloggers experienced an bloggers are aware of increase SMR usage by Social Media Releases companies wanting to communicate with them (note: small sample size) 60% 50% 50% 50% No 40% 47% Yes 30% 53% 20% 10% 0% 0% 0% 0% Increased Increased Remained Decreased Decreased significantly somewhat unchanged somewhat significantly Q.10a: Have you ever heard of a Social Media Release (definition provided in the questionnaire? (n=30) Q.10b: How effective do you think Social Media Releases are as a means to keep you updated on corporations? (7-point scale) (n=16) Q.10c: Compared with a year ago, to what extent are companies using Social Media Releases to communicate with you and other bloggers? (n=16) 18

Use of SMR elements Usage of elements from SMRs in the Intention to use elements from past year is highest in APAC SMRs in the next year is high in (note: small USA sample size) both APAC and Europe (note: small USA sample size) Past year usage Next year intent to use (often / very often) (somewhat / significantly more often) 26% 64% 61% 43% 15% 0% APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA Q.10d: In the past year, how often have you taken elements (video, quotes, pictures, links) from a Social Media Releases to use in your own blog postings? Q.10e: In the next year, how often are you likely to use elements from a Social Media Release for use in your own blog postings? (n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7) 19

Use of SMR elements - Germany Only 12% of bloggers frequently took elements 76% said they will use SMR elements such as videos, quotes, pictures and links from more often in the coming year SMRs to use in their own blogs. (note: small sample size) (note: small sample size) 50% Past year Next year intent 44% 70% 45% usage 63% to use 40% 60% 35% 50% 76% 30% 40% 25% 25% 19% 30% 25% 20% 20% 15% 12% 13% 10% 6% 6% 10% 0% 0% 5% 0% 0% Significantly Somewhat Same as in the Somewhat less Significantly Always Very often Sometimes Rarely Never more often more often past year often less often Q.10d: In the past year, how often have you taken elements (video, quotes, pictures, links) from a Social Media Releases to use in your own blog postings? (n=16) Q.10e: In the next year, how often are you likely to use elements from a Social Media Release for use in your own blog postings? (n=16) 20

Popular blogging subjects “Computers”, “technology” and “Internet” are the most blogged about subjects APAC EUROPE USA Computers and technology 67% Internet / Web 2.0 83% Computers and technology 78% Internet / Web 2.0 61% Computers and technology 74% Internet / Web 2.0 67% Culture and Community 52% Media 50% Business and finance 52% Entertainment / Arts/ Music 45% Brands / marketing/ media 45% Media 26% Brands / marketing/ media 42% Culture and Community 43% Gaming 26% Media 41% Business and finance 31% Brands / marketing/ media 22% Current affairs 31% Gaming 28% Culture and Community 15% General News 27% Entertainment / Arts/ Music 27% Entertainment / Arts/ Music 11% Business and finance 27% Science 23% Current affairs 11% Government & Politics 20% Government & Politics 18% Government & Politics 7% Gaming 16% General News 17% Science 4% Science 15% Current affairs 17% General News 4% Q.11: Which of the following subjects do you normally blog about? (Select all that apply) (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 21

Popular blogging subjects - Germany The Internet, media, and “Computers and Technology” are the most blogged about subjects among these bloggers Internet / Web 2.0 83% Media 63% Computers and technology 63% Culture and Community 57% Brands / marketing/ media 47% Government & Politics 30% Business and finance 30% Science 23% Entertainment / Arts/ Music 20% % who normally blogs General News 13% about each subject Gaming 7% Current affairs 7% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Q.11: Which of the following subjects do you normally blog about? (Select all that apply) (n=30) 22

Importance of various information sources about corporations “Other bloggers”, “Corporate websites”, and “RSS feeds” are the surveyed bloggers‟ most important sources of corporate information. Traditional media is of less importance APAC EUROPE USA Other bloggers 5,4 Other bloggers 5,8 Corporation websites 5,4 RSS Feeds 4,9 RSS Feeds 5,3 Other bloggers 5,2 Corporation websites 4,9 Corporation websites 4,9 RSS Feeds 4,9 Social networks 4,8 Corporate bloggers 4,8 Newspapers 4,7 Corporate bloggers 4,8 Micro-blogging sites 4,6 Magazines 4,7 Micro-blogging sites 4,7 Social networks 4,4 Corporate bloggers 4,0 Newspapers 4,6 Newspapers 4,3 Social networks 3,6 Magazines 4,4 Magazines 3,9 Micro-blogging sites 3,4 Social bookmarking sites 4,1 Social bookmarking sites 3,9 Television 3,1 Television 4,0 Television 3,0 Social bookmarking sites 2,8 7-point scale where 1=“Not important at all” and 7=Very important” Q.12: Please indicate how important each of the following sources are for information about corporations? Please use this scale where 1 is “not important at all” and 7 is “very Important”. You may use any number from 1 to 7 (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 23

Importance of various information sources about corporations - Germany “Other bloggers” and RSS Feeds are the most important sources of information about corporations Other bloggers 5,7 RSS Feeds 5,5 Micro-blogging sites 4,5 Corporate bloggers 4,5 Social networks 4,2 Newspapers 4,2 Mean scores on 7-point Corporation websites 4,1 scale Social bookmarking sites 3,8 Magazines 3,5 Television 2,0 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 7-point scale where 1=“Not important at all” and 7=Very important” Q.12: Please indicate how important each of the following sources are for information about corporations? Please use this scale where 1 is “not important at all” and 7 is “very Important”. You may use any number from 1 to 7 (n=30) 24

Time spent blogging APAC bloggers spend the least amount of time blogging while USA bloggers spend the most 7% 18% 9+ hrs / 21% 24% week: 31% 36% 41% 30% APAC 18% EURO USA 9+ hrs / week: 44% 35% 13% 40% 22% 9+ hrs / week: 63% More than 16 hours 9 to 16 hours 4 to 8 hours Less than 4 hours Q.13: How much of your working week is spent blogging? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 25

Time spent blogging - Germany 40% of the bloggers spend more than 9 hours of their working week blogging Less than 4 hours 17% More than 16 hours 27% 9+ hrs / Germany week: 40% 9 to 16 hours 13% 4 to 8 hours 43% Q.13: How much of your working week is spent blogging? (n=30) 26

Micro-blogging The impact of micro-blogging on 81% of bloggers in the USA and normal blogging is the highest in Europe use micro-blogging, compared APAC (29%) and Europe (27%) where with 76% in APAC bloggers reported to be blogging more as a result of their micro-blogging 81% 81% 76% 29% 27% 18% APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA Q.14a: Micro-blogging sites such as twitter, Plurk and Fanfou are increasingly popular alternatives to blogging (and social networking). Do you use a micro-blogging site? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) Q.14b: IF YES: Since starting to use a micro-blogging site, has your blogging… (n= APAC:177, EURO:153, USA:22) 27

Micro-blogging - Germany Most of the bloggers (69%) think that micro- blogging has neither increased nor decreased their normal blogging 87% of bloggers use a micro- 12% 19% blogging service such as twitter 80% 69% 70% 60% No 50% 13% 40% 30% n=26 20% 19% 8% 10% 4% Yes 0% 87% 0% Significantly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Significantly increased increased increased nor decreased decreased decreased Q.14a: Micro-blogging sites such as twitter and are increasingly popular alternatives to blogging (and social networking). Do you use a micro-blogging site? (n=30) Q.14b: IF YES: Since starting to use a micro-blogging site, has your blogging… (n=26) 28

Honoring an embargo All bloggers (100%) in the USA would honor the terms of an embargo placed on a story idea or announcement, compared to only 90% in Europe 100% 97% 90% APAC EURO USA Q.15: If offered a story idea or announcement under embargo (that is, the material is sent to you in advance of when the organization wants it in the public arena, and advise a time and date after which it can be used), would you honor the terms of the embargo? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 29

Honoring an embargo - Germany No 23% 77% would honor the terms of an embargo placed on a story idea or announcement Yes 77% Q.15: If offered a story idea or announcement under embargo (that is, the material is sent to you in advance of when the organization wants it in the public arena, and advise a time and date after which it can be used), would you honor the terms of the embargo? (n=30) 30

Acknowledging sponsorships Bloggers in the USA are more likely to agree that they should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟ when making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation Product reviews Advertorials Posts that support a blogs advertisers Incentives or gifting to report 100,0% 89% 89% 90,0% 85% 85% 81% 80% 80% 80,0% 74% 71% 68% 70,0% 64% 60,0% 58% 50,0% 40,0% 30,0% 20,0% 10,0% 0,0% APAC EURO USA Q.16: There has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding bloggers making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation. Some say that ethically, bloggers should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟, while others disagree. Do you agree, or disagree, that bloggers should acknowledge corporate sponsorship for: (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27) 31

Acknowledging sponsorships - Germany Bloggers generally agree that they should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟ when making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither disagree nor agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Posts that support a blogs advertisers 63% 10% 10% 3% 13% Product reviews 63% 7% 13% 7% 10% Advertorials 67% 23% 10% Incentives or gifting to report 63% 3% 10% 23% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Q.16: There has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding bloggers making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation. Some say that ethically, bloggers should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟, while others disagree. Do you agree, or disagree, that bloggers should acknowledge corporate sponsorship for: (n=30) 32

Indication of association with blogged about entity Agreement is highest in the USA that bloggers should always clearly state their employer or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses 96% 87% 75% APAC EURO USA Q.17: there has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding corporate bloggers that don‟t clearly indicate their association with an enterprise or organization. To what extent do you agree, or disagree, that “bloggers should always clearly state their employer or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses?” (n=449) 33

Indication of association with blogged about entity - Germany Most (87%) agree that bloggers should always clearly state their employer or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses 80% 70% 70% 60% 87% 50% 40% 30% 20% 17% 13% 10% 0% 0% 0% Strongly agree Somewhat Neither Somewhat Strongly agree disagree nor disagree disagree agree Q.17: there has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding corporate bloggers that don‟t clearly indicate their association with an enterprise or organization. To what extent do you agree, or disagree, that “bloggers should always clearly state their employer or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses?” (n=30) 34

Blogger Survey 2009 GERMANY Lars Basche June 2009 E-Mail: lars.basche@text100.de Tel: +49 (0)89 99 83 70 33 Twitter: larsbas Delicious: larsbasche

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Text 100 Blogger Survey Results Germany

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