3. 2.5x more often than local city
guides, 4x more often than online
sites/reviews, and 10x often more
than social media check-in sites.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. People Rely on Others… Unevenly
Finding a Picking a Getting help
Deciding on new Finding a new dr, hotel, B & B, Getting movie, Getting advice with a
Everyday service realtor, financial or vacation music, or book on a personal technical
Purchase provider advisor, or lawyer rental recos problem problem
(n=558) (n=552) (n=560) (n=574) (n=586) (n=582) (n=576)
Reviews on retailer's sites 58% 22% 17% 31% 51% 18% 26%
All Options
Online review sites 40% 56% 43% 52% 39% 13% 22%
On social networking sites 29% 18% 19% 23% 27% 33% 17%
Forums or discussion
26% 34% 43% 29% 27% 38% 57%
lists/boards
Q&A sites 25% 25% 28% 27% 14% 35% 50%
Blogs 17% 12% 9% 13% 15% 27% 17%
Most Preferred
Reviews on retailer’s sites 46% 15% 8% 19% 43% 12% 10%
Online review sites 17% 45% 33% 41% 18% 6% 12%
Options
On social networking sites 13% 10% 10% 12% 15% 24% 9%
Forums or discussion
9% 16% 30% 12% 11% 25% 40%
lists/boards
Q&A sites 9% 9% 15% 13% 5% 24% 25%
Blogs 5% 3% 3% 2% 7% 9% 4%
IN9. Please indicate where you typically find opinions online when <Insert item from IN1>. Select all that apply. = Top 2 Responses
IN10. Please indicate your most preferred option for finding opinions online when <Insert item from IN1>. Select one.
9. Diversity of Sources, People is Critical
Finding a Picking a Getting help
Deciding on new Finding a new dr, hotel, B & B, Getting movie, Getting advice with a
Everyday service realtor, financial or vacation music, or book on a personal technical
Purchase provider advisor, or lawyer rental recos problem problem
(n=558) (n=552) (n=560) (n=574) (n=586) (n=582) (n=576)
0 Sites 2% 5% 8% 2% 3% 13% 6%
Number of
Websites
1 Site 13% 11% 11% 7% 20% 18% 16%
2 Sites 29% 31% 20% 26% 35% 24% 23%
3 Sites 26% 23% 20% 25% 21% 20% 22%
4 Sites or more 31% 31% 40% 40% 22% 25% 33%
Mean 3.4 3.2 3.9 4.1 2.7 2.7 3.6
1 6% 7% 6% 5% 6% 12% 8%
Number of
Individuals
2-5 46% 51% 35% 45% 52% 45% 50%
6-9 24% 19% 29% 23% 27% 27% 26%
10-49 22% 20% 30% 22% 12% 15% 13%
50-99 0% 2% 0% 3% 1% 0% 2%
100 or more 1% 1% 0% 2% 2% 0% 0%
Mid-Point mean 11.6 11.8 12.5 14.3 10.7 8.7 9.1
49% 55% 69% 41% 41% 78% 33%
IN11. How many websites would you typically visit to get opinions regarding <Insert item from IN1>. Please use whole numbers.
IN12. How many individual opinions would you need to feel confident about your decision when <Insert item from IN1>?
10.
11.
12. Experts? Meh.
Most Important Source of Opinions by Task
Users Experts People I know
55%
Hotel, Bed & Breakfast, or vacation rental 17%
29%
44%
Everyday Purchase 10%
45%
43%
Movie, music, or book recommendations 10%
47%
39%
New Home Service Provider 22%
39%
26%
New doctor, realtor, financial advisor or
24%
lawyer
50%
19%
Help with a technical problem 64%
17%
11%
Advice on a personal problem 13%
77%
13. Decision Influence Factors Vary
Day-to-Day Commercial Entertainment
Influencer Doctor, Home Hotel, B&B, Movies,
Characteristics Tasks Technical Personal Everyday Realtor, Service Vacation Music,
Problem Problem Purchase Lawyer Provider Rental Books
Expert
Expertise More Experienced
Smart
Personal Personal Relationship
Practical
Personality
Traits
Open-Minded
Share Preferences
Taste/
Picky
Preferences
Great Style
Same Geo
Demog-
raphics
Same Age
IN5. Thinking specifically of <Insert item from IN1>, which of the following characteristics are important to you when getting an opinion from someone you personally
know and trust? Select up to 5 responses.
14.
15.
16. Social Networks Reign Supreme for Questions
7% 17% 18% 24% 34%
Facebook (n=1267)
6% 11% 8% 22% 53%
Twitter (n=619)
5% 8% 8% 18% 61%
Google+ (n=550)
LinkedIn (n=518) 2% 5% 4% 15% 75%
MySpace (n=517) 1% 6% 4% 17% 71%
Daily or more than once a day One to a few times a week A few times a month
Less than once a month Never
Significantly greater than other segment (95% c.l.)
SN2. How frequently do you post a question as your status?
17. Using Social Networks for Decision Making
Start a conversation (e.g., what are the Chargers 28%
chances to make the Super Bowl?)
Get an opinion on something (e.g., should I wait for the 24%
iPhone 5 or just go with the iPhone 4?)
Make an invitation (e.g., does anyone want to see this 12%
show with me?)
Get recommendations (e.g., what new bands should I 9%
check out?)
Copied from someone else’s status (e.g., everyone 7%
answer this question: what was I wearing the first…
Get “How to” help (e.g., how do you get gum out of 6%
your carpet?)
5%
Ask for a favor (e.g., can anyone babysit tonight?)
Networking (e.g., I have a job opening on my team. Do 5%
you know anyone who might be interested?)
Make an offer (e.g., I’m selling my car. Is anyone 4%
interested?)
SN3. What was the purpose of the most recent question you asked one of your social networks?
18. Questions Get Asked for Diversity, Closeness
37%
Just for fun/to satisfy my curiosity
I wanted a variety of responses
30%
I wanted to connect with other people on my social 27%
network
To get opinions from people I know because I trust 24%
them more than strangers
I know people in my network share my tastes 19%
I thought it would be faster 17%
It wasn’t the kind of question you can ask a search 16%
engine
It’s easier 16%
I knew someone in my network would have the right 15%
expertise to answer this question
I wanted more complete information
8%
I thought I’d get a higher quality answer 5%
I had already tried other resources and couldn’t find 4%
the answer
SN5. Why did you ask this question of your social network? Select up to 3 responses.
19.
20.
21. 62% look for positive experiences others
People Look for Experiential Opinions had with a product, brand or company
Europe Europe regions
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
...positive experiences others had 62%
...negative experiences others had 53%
...the launch of a new
product, brand, or company 45%
...feedback about products/services
others received from a company 45%
...promotions others saw
40%
...games and contests related to the
products, brands or companies 32%
...online advertising others saw or
heard about 28% Europe
West
North
...advertising via traditional media (e.g. East
tv, radio, magazine, etc.) others saw or
25% South
heard about
Q : What exactly do you consult then about products, brands and/or companies? Consulting information about... N Europe = 2876 / F = If consulting information
22. Facebook is the place to consult
Again, on FB information about products and
Q : You’ve indicated that you sometimes consult information about products, brands and/or companies. When doing brands
this, which social network sites do you use for consulting that information?
Europe Europe regions
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Facebook 74%
Twitter 14%
Vkontakte 13%
LinkedIn 6%
MySpace 5%
Hi5 3%
Xing 3%
Netlog 3%
Badoo 2%
Hyves 1%
Orkut 1%
QZone 1%
Tagged 1%
Ning 0%
Habbo 0% Europe
West
Bebo 0% North
East
Friendster 0% South
N Europe = 2876 / F = If consulting information
23. Positive experiences are also
Impact of consulting on buying intention reported to have the highest
impact on buying intention
Europe Europe regions
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Positive experiences others had
52%
Feedback about products/services
others received from a company 32%
The launch of a new product, brand,
or company 29%
Promotions others saw 25%
Negative experiences others had 23%
Games and contests related to the
products, brands or companies 19%
Advertising via traditional media (e.g.
tv, radio, magazine, etc.) others saw 15% Europe
or heard about
West
North
Online advertising others saw or East
14%
heard about South
N Europe = 2876 / F = If consulting in general
Q : When you consult information about products, brands and/or companies, does this information have an
impact on your intention to buy the product / brand / something of the company? (top2%, 1-5)
24. Impact of consulting on brand perception
Europe Europe regions
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Positive experiences others had 54%
Feedback about products/services 32%
others received from a company
The launch of a new product, brand, 32%
or company
Promotions others saw 28% Positive experiences
are reported to have the
highest impact on
Negative experiences others had 26% brand opinion
Games and contests related to the
products, brands or companies 21%
Online advertising others saw or
heard about 16% Europe
West
North
Advertising via traditional media (e.g. East
tv, radio, magazine, etc.) others saw 15% South
or heard about
Q : When you consult information about products, brands and/or companies, does this information have an impact on your opinion about the product /Europe/ = 2876 / F = If consulting in general
N brand company? (top2%, 1-5)
24
29. Rising Above the Noise
Things you already do New things to consider
Interesting & useful content Make it easy to Like and
Quality
Share content. Include links
in Tweets and Updates
Trust Trustworthy sites linking to Trust-worthy people sharing
your site; anchor text your links or tweets; avoiding
spammy clumps
Popularity # of high quality links # of people Retweeting or
Liking what you said/shared
in the last minute, hour, day,
week
Timelines Update your site, blogs Be prepared to turn on a
s dime, and for the flash mob
30. Behind the Scenes
Content Goes to Public Information
People Share and
Facebook and Comes to Bing,
Like Content
Twitter real-time
Content
Ranking and
Processing and User Experience
Annotation
Indexing
31. Reputation: More
Than Followers
Users’ Users’
Attributes Actions
Retweets
Friends
Replies
Followers
Others that share the
same link
Follows
Likes