The Science of Sharing: An Inside Look at the Social Consumer

THE SCIENCE OF SHARING

QUESTIONS WE ARE SEEKING TO ANSWER How do people make brand choices online? What type of products do people spend the most time researching? What paths to people take to learn about brands? What type of sites do they use? What type of people form their opinion of brands via social media versus other channels? What type of actions do people take after learning about a brand online? Does increasing a brands fan base likely to lead to more sales of the product? What influence does social sharing have on people’s behaviour?

TOP LINE FINDINGS People who create content through social media are nearly three times more likely to recommend a product compared to people who share low amounts of content High Sharers were 41% likely to recommend the product compared to Low Sharers who were only 14% likely to do the same 36% of High Sharers stated that they are loyal to their favorite brands compared to 25% of low sharers Prior research (NPS etc.) established a strong link between profitability and recommendations Talking to friends and family had more influence on purchasing decision than all other channel besides search People who research high involvement products are more concerned about quality, while people who shop for low involvement products are more concerned about product image

DECISION MODEL REVIEW SITES QUALITY MORE LIKELY TO BUY SEARCH SITES HIGH INVOLVEMENT BRAND SITE MORE LIKELY TO RECOMMEND FACEBOOK LOW HIGH SHARER FACEBOOK MORE LIKELY TO BUY LOW SHARER TWITTER

PERSONALITY SEGMENTS BUDGET QUALITY IMAGE HIGH LOW SHOPPER SEEKER SHOPPER SHARER SHARER > LOW > CREATE > CONSUME > MALE >FEMALE INCOME CONTENT CONTENT > HIGH > HIGH > HIGH >USED SEARCH >FB INCOME LOYALTY INCOME > LOW >LIKES > EARLY > OLDER > OLDER LOYALTY FASHION ADOPTER

DEMOGRAPHICS (US DATA) Demo % Demo % Male 49% White 85% Female 51% Hispanic 3% 18-24 13% African American 4% 25-44 36% Asian 5% 45-54 20% Native American 1% 55-64 15% Other 2% 65+ 16% High School 38% 0-19k 16% Associate 20% 20-49k 35% Bachelors 27% 50-79k 23% Masters 8% 80-99k 12% Professional 3% 100k-149k 10% Doctorate 2% 150k+ 4% None 2%

HOW DO PEOPLE MAKE BRAND CHOICES ONLINE People’s interactions with brands online differ based on the characteristics of the product, the characteristics of the person, and the outcome of the interaction A person can discover a brand/product through intentional action—searching via search engine, review sites etc—or he/she can become aware of the brand without intention—discovering the product based on a friend’s recommendation Our hypothesis is that social networking channels are conducive to unintentional discovery which is just as important as the former type of discovery

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRODUCT

TWO GROUPS OF PRODUCTS High Involvement Products: These products are less frequently purchased and more complex and expensive in nature, requiring more time and effort in the research phase Low Involvement Products: These products are bought more frequently and are generally less costly; usually bought with a minimum amount of thought and effort

HIGH INVOLVEMENT VS. LOW INVOLVEMENTHIGH INVOLVEMENT LOW INVOLVEMENTMore likely to be male More likely to be femaleMore likely to be older More likely to be youngerLess likely to be a minority* More likely to be a minority*More likely to be a low sharer More likely to be a high sharerMore likely to be married More likely to be singleMore likely to have higher level of More likely to have lower level ofeducation educationMore likely to visit the store and More likely to buy and recommendcontact the brandMore likely to buy quality brands More likely to buy fashionable/modern brandsMore likely to buy brands More likely to buy brands with nostalgicrecommended by someone they trust appeal * Nearly significant

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERSON

HIGH SHARERS VS. LOW SHARERS People who actively use social media behave differently than people who are low users of social media when researching brands High Sharers: People who create and share content through social media Low Sharers: People who have low levels of creating content through social media but still consume it

MATT THE HIGH SHARER (20% OF THE SAMPLE) ASSOCIATED WITH TYPICALLY HIGHER INTERNET YOUNGER USE MORE LIKELY TO BE MORE LIKELY TO BE LOYAL TO FAVORITE A MINORITY BRAND ASSOCIATED WITH TYPICALLY HAS HIGHER LEVELS OF HIGHER NUMBER EDUCATION OF FB FRIENDS

DON THE LOW SHARER (80% OF THE SAMPLE) ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER INTERNET USE TYPICALLY OLDER LESS FREQUENT USER OF FACEBOOK MORE LIKELY TO SWITCH BRANDS

HIGH SHARERS VS LOW SHARERSHIGH SHARER LOW SHARERMore likely to be a minority Less likely to be a minorityMore likely to be younger More likely to be olderMore likely to research electronics and music More likely to research travel, and personal financeMore likely to research low involvement products More likely to research high involvement productsMore likely to have higher levels of education More likely to have lower levels of educationMore likely to like fashionable brands More likely not to care about the brand as long as quality is acceptableMore likely to buy brands that was recommended by More likely to care about quality brandsomeone they trustMore likely to be loyal to favorite brand More open to change brandsMore likely to spend more time on the internet More likely to spend less time on the internetMore likely to have more devices to access internet More likely to have less devices to access internetMore likely to be influenced across all channels Less likely to be influenced across all channelsMore likely to have more Facebook friends and Twitter More likely to have less Facebook friends and Twitterfollowers followers

SOCIAL MEDIA USE (US DATA) 53% of people have used Facebook to interact with a product 40% of people have liked a product on Facebook 33% of people wrote a post about a product or a brand 65% of people have signed up for a coupon online 11% of people Tweeted about a product at least occasionally 42% of people have wrote a product review on a review site 13% of people regularly blog about products 54% of people who use Facebook have under 100 friends.

TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO INTERACT WITH BRANDS (3 SEGMENTS) Budget Shoppers (10%) Quality Seekers (27%) Image Seekers (5%)

JANE THE BUDGET SHOPPER 56% FEMALE MORE LIKELY TO SHOP FOR LOW INVOLVEMENT ITEMS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A LOWER INCOME LOWEST LEVEL OF LOYALTY AMONGST ALL SEGMENTS

BUDGET SHOPPERS More likely to be a low sharer More likely to be female More likely to have a lower income More likely to take no action at all after researching More likely to be female Has lowest level of loyalty amongst the other groups More likely to be a late adapter

STEVEN THE QUALITY SEEKER 63% MALE 55% OF QUALITY SHOPPERS PURCHASE HIGH INVOLVEMENT ITEMS MORE LIKELY TO BE LOYAL TO THE BRAND MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A HIGH LEVEL OF INCOME

QUALITY SHOPPERS More likely to be influenced by friends and family, search and review sites More likely to buy the product if the product is high involvement compared to the other groups More likely to have a higher level of income More likely to be older More likely to be male More likely to be a low sharer Spent more time on the internet then other groups* More likely to be loyal to the brand More likely to be an early adapter* Not Significant

ANNA THE IMAGE SHOPPER 63% OF IMAGE SHOPPERS PURCHASED LOW INVOLVEMENT ITEMS 58% OF IMAGE SHOPPERS ARE FEMALE MORE FREQUENT USERS OF FACEBOOK AND TWITTER 58% OF IMAGE SHOPPERS WERE HIGH SHARERS

IMAGE SHOPPERS More influenced across all channels compared to other groups More likely younger More likely purchase low involvement product (within group) More likely to be a high sharer More likely to be a frequent user of Facebook and Twitter More likely to change brands compared to quality shoppers Associated with higher income level compared to budget Associated with lower time online* Highest level of loyalty for high involvement products* Not Significant

OUTCOME OF THE INTERACTION

ACTIONS PEOPLE TAKE AFTER RESEARCHING (US DATA) 8% Awareness 3% Change Impression 26% 9% Encouraged to Visit 3% Encouraged to Contact Prompted to Buy 20% 31% Prompted to Recommend No Action

MOST RECENT PRODUCTS PEOPLE RESEARCH (US DATA) People are not confined to searching for single type of product online and research a variety of products and services Electronics Music Travel Restaurants Fashion Automotive Beauty Home Improvement Personal Finance Cookware Kitchen AppliancesBaby Products

TYPES OF SITES PEOPLE USE TO RESEARCH THE PRODUCT (US DATA) 57% of people who use SITE CATEGORY REACH search use it more than once per week. Search 88% 44% of people who use Product Site 80% Facebook use it more Review Sites 73% than once per week. Online News 62% Online Ads 58% Facebook 46% Youtube 44% Forums 43% Forums 43% Blogs 38% Foursquare 31% Twitter 21% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

INFLUENCE SCORES BY CHANNEL AND PRODUCT CATEGORY Ratings and review (Amazon) Search results Facebook friends News articles Twitter Blog posts YouTube or Vimeo Videos Information on a product or brand website Talking with friends or family 1003 1002.5 1002 1001.5 1001 1000.5 1000 Automotive Baby Products Beauty Cookware Electronics Fashion Home Kitchen Music/Films Personal Restaurants Travel Improvement Appliances Finance

ACTIONS FEED BRAND INTERACTIONS FOR OTHERSAction people take impacts others’ interaction with the brand Recommendations influence purchases decisions Talking to friends and family had more influence on purchasing decision than any other channel besides search High Sharers were 41% likely to recommend the product compared to Low Sharers who were only 14% likely to do the same 36% of High Sharers stated that they are loyal to their favorite brands compared to 25% of low sharers Prior research has established a strong link between profitability and loyalty Net Promoter score has been found to be related to revenue growth and the score is composed of likelihood to recommend

METHODOLOGY Beyond fielded an online survey to 1,582 respondents across the US The sample of respondents was weighted to US Census benchmarks to be representative of the US population Respondents were asked a list of questions that targeted the participants’ online behavior as it related to online brand interactions Respondents were given a small incentive for completing the survey The survey focused on brands/products that people researched or engaged with online within the last 2-3 months Beyond used Cluster Analyses, Logistic Regression, Chi Square and ANOVA to analyze differences within the data.

IMPLICATIONS? People who are high sharers are more influenced across all channels Low sharers are more likely to purchase a product while people who are highly engaged (high sharers) are more likely to recommend the product High engagement online does not seem to influence purchasing behavior for high involvement items, but consumers are more likely to recommend items to others Increasing engagement through social networks should lead to more organic recommendations, which impact purchasing decisions and brand loyalty Search is still the main driver of purchasing behaviors. People’s probability to purchase items is directly related to their income, search influence, and recommendations from someone they trust

http://bynd.com	854
http://www.socialmediaclub.at	308
http://gavendumont.com	266
http://somersault.posterous.com	115
http://juliangrandke.de	88
http://www.dr4ward.com	63
http://www.twylah.com	42
http://mopr.tumblr.com	28
http://www.next15.com	9
http://www.typepad.com	3
http://posterous.com	2
http://a0.twimg.com	2
http://gavendumont.tumblr.com	2
http://feeds.feedburner.com	1

The Science of Sharing: An Inside Look at the Social Consumer

by Beyond on Oct 26, 2011

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The Science of Sharing: An Inside Look at the Social Consumer — Presentation Transcript