By Larry Burns, StartSampling

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of mouth marketing program at
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(c) 2006 Word of Mouth Marketing Association.
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2. Introducing the SPI REPORT
A first look at a new ongoing research
program designed to enhance industry
understanding
Larry Burns, President & CEO
StartSampling, Inc.
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3. Today’s topic – A first look ……
Adding new learning to the industry by examining the
media & promotional consumption and eventual
transmission of product and service information by
Social Persuaders and Influencers.

4. What are we talking about today ?
This program was started in the spring of 2006 as clients kept asking for help to
better understand the consumers who have increasingly become the
segment of greatest desire to marketers – the group we now refer to as
Social Persuaders and Influencers (SPI)
Today we are providing early findings on work that just finished data collection
November 27th. We will be discussing:
• The mechanics of the interviewing process just completed
• How we define a SPI
• An interesting construct in the data - the Path to Recommendation
• Early learning within each of the four major steps in the process
Importantly – our approach does not challenge other concepts – we believe the
high level view into SPI behavior we’ve uncovered offers a stream of data
and information that will have value to marketers as they grapple with the
unique brand by brand marketing challenges every marketer faces –
regardless of the ‘definition’ used
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5. Mechanics of the data collection process(1)
• This research was conducted on-line among
StartSampling's members who joined to ‘Try
Something New’ (not your typical research panel)
• Interviewing began on November 5th with final field
wrap up on November 27th.
• We interviewed over 26,000 consumers - with
7,800 consumers in the full database, giving us
2,700 SPIs plus 5,100 non-SPIs for comparison.
consumers responded to a data collection instrument
that took an average of 19 minutes to complete.
• The StartSampling opt-in panel attracts engaged
household decision makers … which naturally
skews towards females 25 – 44.
(1)
Methodology description is available at our table for those who want further details
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6. Defining “What is a SPI”
By uniquely combining several facets of a consumers life, we have
created a distinctive way to provide insight into the behaviors of
Social Persuaders & Influencers (SPI’s).
SPI’s are defined by considering three major areas of a consumers
life that can be thought of as key determinants for one’s potential to
act as Social Persuaders and Influencers for any given brand …
• Size of one’s Social Network
• Persuasive Power – i.e. the degree of credible influence exerted
• Information Dissemination - i.e. the use of ones social networks
for commercial speech
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7. Defining “What is a SPI”
A consumer in any of these 3 spheres is a
potentially ‘higher value’ consumer
We all know that category/brand
dynamics, demography, buying
behaviors and other brand specific
considerations must inform whom a
marketer seeks to reach & influence.
However, our proposition is that
consumers whose behavior places
them in the intersection of these
three critical spheres offer a unique
opportunity for learning and direction
for marketers regardless of
demography or category specific
behaviors.
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8. Defining “What is a SPI”
To be a SPI, a consumer needs to exhibit the combination of characteristics that
places them at this critical intersection of potential influence
• In terms of the size of one’s social network SPI’s …
… typically speak to significant numbers of people, are socially active and
participatory, are exposed to others from all walks of life, often meet new
people, volunteer, tend to belong to organizations and travel.
• Being seen as having Persuasive Power (being credible influencers) SPI’s…
…research brands and actively seek the advice of others, are recognized by
others as people whose opinions are to be relied upon, and are often
seen as “experts” by others - as well as being self aware as to their own
expertise.
• SPI’s are further described by their information dissemination behaviors - the
degree to which they exhibit use of their networks for commercial speech …
… they actively share experiences about products and services (both good
and bad), they enjoy telling others about products, and they gain personal
value from sharing such information.
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9. The magic in the combination …
Qualifying as a SPI goes well
beyond any single response
As one example we look to 29.8%
responses of “Strongly Agree”
with the statement … 11.4% 22.8%
58.7%
“Friends and family often ask
29.9% 45.8%
my advice when it comes to
buying or using products or 22.3%
services”
6.1 % among those outside these 3 spheres altogether
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10. The magic in the combination …
… the phenomena appears in
reported behaviors as well.
Although overall engaging in
high levels of ‘on-line product 7.7%
rating’ remains relatively low,
you’ll see SPIs are still 2 to 3 5.6% 7.8%
times more likely to do so. 19.6%
11.5% 9.4%
These responses are reported
for the “past 3 months” 4.9%
behavior of …
“engage in product
ratings (via on-line sites)
6 or more times”
4.3 % among those outside these 3 spheres altogether
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11. Discoveries – a context
A ‘simple’ high level pattern emerged in
particular within the rich playback
received when we offered consumers a ‘Awareness’
chance to tell us the story about a time Where and how do SPIs generally become
they decided to “spread the word” aware or learn about new products and
services?
‘Research’
Once aware, how do SPIs seek to learn more
and how might marketers consider
leveraging these activities within their reach
strategies?
‘Experience’
An important step in the process - SPIs
appear to seek sufficient “experience” with
a brand before choosing to speak.
We discover that SPIs exhibit a general 4 ‘Recommendation’
stage “Path to Recommendation” Once they do choose to share information –
in what forms and using which methods
does that occur?
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12. Awareness Stage
Information source
Overall – the key phrase to describe SPIs Rank by time spent
is ACTIVE & ENGAGED SPI Non-SPI
Average Hours)
• Across all sources SPIs spent more Using Internet, being quot;on-linequot; 2.7 2.2
Talking with others in person 2.4 1.7
time - single exception was TV. Multi- Watching Television 2.0 2.1
tasking clearly in evidence. Reading and responding to emails 1.6 1.1
Talking on the telephone 1.3 0.9
• While the top 6 sources were ranked in Listening to Radio 1.2 0.9
similar fashion … SPIs devoted an
Total Hours spent (Average day) 11.2 8.9
additional 2+ hours to these sources on
average.
Information source
Time spent
• Mainstream forms of information
gathering dominate time spent but, SPI Non-SPI
(average minutes)
SPIs are further down path in Instant Messaging 36.1 20.6
Reviewing information via a quot;newsreaderquot; 35.3 16.9
embracing newer forms. Text Messaging 23.9 13.5
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13. Awareness Stage
• When asked about ‘potential impact
on you’ consumers clearly do Thinking about how companies might try to communicate with you,
differentiate among the tactics please rate each of these in terms of their potential impact on you.
(1)
Net Differentials
companies use to communicate. Absolute
Used a very old technique “net differential” Difference SPI Non-SPI
Friend … send me a referral 25.1 94.0 68.9
calculations to highlight differences
Ads in Magazines 18.3 79.5 61.2
Television Ads 5.0 76.5 71.5
• SPIs are more engaged with all Through the company's website 30.5 74.9 44.4
manner of communications. In postal mail 14.4 67.1 52.7
Ads in Newspapers 14.2 55.0 40.8
E-mail information 34.0 40.2 6.2
• Absolute difference (SPIs vs. Non- On-Line Advertising 35.1 38.7 3.6
SPIs) helps illuminate differences. Ads out of home 20.8 34.5 13.7
Radio Ads 12.3 32.1 19.8
The lines between the Awareness and Research Text Messaging 14.1 -39.6 -53.7
steps begin to blur at bit as the largest
differences SPI to Non-SPI are in areas where
Effectiveness Scale
consumers need to engage + take action
(company website, email, etc.) (1)Net
differential =
(Very + Somewhat) minus (Not Very + Not at all)
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14. Research Stage
SPIs consume every information
source we explored with much
greater frequency than Non- How often do you seek information using each of the
following sources?
SPIs. (1)
Net Differentials
SPIs appear to exhibit more Absolute
Difference SPI Non-SPI
willingness to “dig for data” than Shopping at store and seeing
others. product for myself 14.6 89.1 74.5
Talking with family and friends 19.7 74.6 54.9
Store advertisement or circular 21.8 61.2 39.4
Reading reviews off line 42.6 44.5 1.9
Speaking to store employee 42.3 0.8 -41.5
For marketers – suggests this Using a shopping comparison or
very crucial audience are most rating service on-line 30.9 -2.5 -33.4
likely to pay attention to the “no Frequency scale
one really reads that stuff (1)
Net differential = (Always + Often) minus (Rarely + Do Not Use)
anyway” within your marketing
collateral. Consider the
implications ……
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15. Experience Stage
SPIs actively seek to gain direct experience with products of interest to them.
Our data confirms prevailing wisdom about skepticism with ‘traditional’ marketing efforts and
a shift of perceived value to methods where they are ‘told’ by someone they know or can
discover for themselves.
Of interest SPIs are quite different from Non-SPIs in finding value via direct interaction with a “brand
representative” - e.g. travel agent, attending training classes, talking with store employees.
Cause based activities also are worthy of consideration as a valued tactic.
Please indicate your reactions to the methods listed in terms of how much you value each method
as a way to learn about products and services
(1)
Net Differentials
Absolute
Difference SPI Non-SPI
15.5% 94.4% 78.9%
Materials given to you by someone you personally know
Product information or samples I specifically request from a
14.3% 93.5% 79.2%
brand (via on or off line methods)
14.7% 92.8% 78.1%
In-store demonstrations where you can see a product in use
18.9% 90.6% 71.7%
Experiencing a product at an event you are attending
Emails sent to you by a company you have requested contact
24.1% 74.0% 49.9%
you
32.3% 73.1% 40.8%
In-store training or classes to teach me how to use a product
Products that are associated with a particular cause I value
29.1% 63.4% 34.3%
(like finding a cure for a particular disease, etc.)
26.0% 62.7% 36.7%
News Stories
Recommendation from an industry quot;expertquot; (travel agent,
37.6% 49.6% 12.0%
financial planner, tradesmen, etc.)
8.5% -25.5% -34.0%
Celebrity endorsements
V alue scale
(1)
Net differential = (V ery V aluable + Somewhat) minus (Limited + No V alue)
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16. Recommendation Stage
SPIs use many methods to share information once they choose to recommend.
Clearly the most prevalent method of sharing remains ‘talking directly’.
Several major areas where largest differences appear are in the methods that are quite
public and can reach large numbers of consumer – speaking in groups, emailing and
posting reviews.
How often would you say you use the following methods
to share what you have discovered with others?
% engage in b ehavior
(1)
Net Differentials Always or Often
Absolute
Difference SPI Non-SPI SPI Non-SPI
23.5% 92.7% 69.2% 93.2% 72.2%
Talking directly (person to person) with family, or friends
36.0% 89.2% 53.2% 90.0% 61.3%
Talking directly with co-workers or acquaintances
Mentioning my experience in a group of people at a
65.4% 66.9% 1.5% 72.0% 30.2%
social event or other gathering
48.0% 33.7% -14.3% 53.1% 25.1%
Calling people on the phone
52.9% 31.9% -21.0% 51.6% 22.4%
Emailing a list of friends or acquaintances
Writing a review or sharing an opinion using a shopping
49.6% 21.9% -27.7% 44.3% 18.5%
comparison or rating service
37.9% -9.9% -47.8% 33.7% 12.6%
Posting about my experience on a blog or chat room
Posting information on a personal web site or site you
create in a service like MySpace, Xanga, Facebook,
32.5% -19.0% -51.5% 29.7% 11.0%
Classmates, or similar place
27.3% -21.6% -48.9% 28.5% 12.0%
Using Instant Messaging (IM) to share the news
Text messaging using my phone 18.1% -41.0% -59.1% 20.0% 8.4%
Frequency s cale
(1)
Net differential = (Always + Often) m inus (Rarely + Do Not Us e)
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17. Summary
• Our goal was to introduce The SPI Report.
• Our efforts simply bring us a new tool for marketers – to
provide specific insight on where Social Persuaders and
Influencers are today and trend how things are changing
as we move forward.
• The database is substantial but, this only works if
conclusions we draw are meaningful for the marketers.
• Our desire over the next few days is to absorb the
questions being asked across the discussions and
produce our first report to respond and add additional
consumer insight based on the extensive data we’ve
amassed.
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18. SO… WE THANK YOU
• We are here through Wednesday – the discussions will have the
greatest value to all of us.
• We are actively seeking input and thoughts on what we all wish to
learn from the data set we’ve collected as we move towards our
initial report release just after the holidays.
• We also seek your insight and curiosity as we keep our program
moving forward into the all important trending phase with our next
quarterly instrument due to field in February.
• We are open to discuss access to our panel of SPIs identified to
date for further research .
• We can also work with you to take this model and apply it to
databases of consumers you may have already established
relationships with.
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