More than two-thirds (68%) of online Americans say they visit online blogs, communities or social networks, and 33% engage in product research online to help them make purchase decisions, according to the August/September 2008 Insight Report from MarketTools. The frequency of social media visits also is on the rise, with 42% of adults saying they visit these sites more now than they did six months ago.
Social Media by Generation
Nearly one in five of all adults (19%) say they visit blogs, communities or social networks daily,
with a higher percentage of women saying so (22% vs. 16%). Percentages of daily visitors
decrease as respondents get older:
33% of Generation-Y respondents (people mostly in their 20s) visit these sites every day.
17% of Generation X (mostly in their 30s and early 40s) visit these sites daily.
11% of Baby Boomers (in their mid 40s to early 60s) visit social media sites daily.
8% percent of Seniors visit daily.
Social Media for Product Research
Many
Americans visit blogs, communities and social
networks with the specific intent of
researching
products:
33%
of visitors say they visit these sites to engage in
product research before making a
purchasing decision.
Affluent
visitors (with annual incomes of more than $75K)
are most likely to research
products online before buying (43%).
Baby
Boomer visitors are significantly more likely than
other groups to read or post
comments about products and services on these sites
(37%).
Baby
Boomers (63%), along with Generation X (59%), are
significantly more likely than
other groups to visit the corporate websites of
product or service providers.
Impact
on Purchasing Decisions
The research also
indicates that blogs, communities and social
networks have a direct impact on
purchasing
decisions:
47%
of all respondents say that these sites have
influenced their decision to purchase
particular brands or services to at least some
extent.
26%
of all respondents actually changed their minds
about buying a product or service
because of what they read on a blog, community or
social network.
Women
are significantly more likely (29%) than men (22%)
to change their minds about
a purchase because of these sites.
Those
in middle-income households (those with yearly
income of $35K to $75K), at 30%,
and those from Generation Y (35%) and Generation X
(30%), are the most likely to
change their minds because of the information they
read on social media sites.
