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THE SCIENCE OF SHARING
THE SCIENCE OF SHARING
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?
QUESTIONS WE ARE SEEKING TO ANSWER
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
TOP LINE FINDINGS
INVOLVEMENT
LOW
HIGH
REVIEW SITES
SEARCH SITES
BRAND SITE
TWITTERLOW SHARER
HIGH SHARER
MORE LIKELY TO BUY
QUALITY
MORE LIKELY TO RECOMMEND
MORE LIKELY TO BUY
DECISION MODEL
PERSONALITY SEGMENTS
BUDGET SHOPPER
QUALITY SEEKER
IMAGE SHOPPER
HIGH SHARER
LOW SHARER
>USED SEARCH
> LOW INCOME
> LOW LOYALTY
> MALE
> HIGHINCOME
> OLDER
>FEMALE > CREATECONTENT
> HIGH LOYALTY
> EARLY ADOPTER
> CONSUME CONTENT
> HIGHINCOME
> OLDER
>FB
>LIKES FASHION
DEMOGRAPHICS (US DATA)
Demo %
Male 49%
Female 51%
18-24 13%
25-44 36%
45-54 20%
55-64 15%
65+ 16%
0-19k 16%
20-49k 35%
50-79k 23%
80-99k 12%
100k-149k 10%
150k+ 4%
Demo %
White 85%
Hispanic 3%
African American 4%
Asian 5%
Native American 1%
Other 2%
High School 38%
Associate 20%
Bachelors 27%
Masters 8%
Professional 3%
Doctorate 2%
None 2%
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
HOW DO PEOPLE MAKE BRAND CHOICES ONLINE
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRODUCT
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
TWO GROUPS OF PRODUCTS
HIGH 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 education
More likely to have lower level of education
More likely to visit the store and contact the brand
More likely to buy and recommend
More likely to buy quality brands More likely to buy fashionable/modern brands
More likely to buy brands recommended by someone they trust
More likely to buy brands with nostalgic appeal
* Nearly significant
HIGH INVOLVEMENT VS. LOW INVOLVEMENT
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERSON
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
HIGH SHARERS VS. LOW SHARERS
MATT THE HIGH SHARER (20% OF THE SAMPLE)
TYPICALLY YOUNGER
MORE LIKELY TO BE A MINORITY
ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER LEVELS OF
EDUCATION
ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER INTERNET
USE
MORE LIKELY TO BE LOYAL TO FAVORITE
BRAND
TYPICALLY HAS HIGHER NUMBER
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 SHARERS
HIGH SHARER LOW SHARER
More likely to be a minority Less likely to be a minority
More likely to be younger More likely to be older
More likely to research electronics and music More likely to research travel, and personal finance
More likely to research low involvement products More likely to research high involvement products
More likely to have higher levels of education More likely to have lower levels of education
More likely to like fashionable brands More likely not to care about the brand as long as quality is acceptable
More likely to buy brands that was recommended by someone they trust
More likely to care about quality brand
More likely to be loyal to favorite brand More open to change brands
More likely to spend more time on the internet More likely to spend less time on the internet
More likely to have more devices to access internet More likely to have less devices to access internet
More likely to be influenced across all channels Less likely to be influenced across all channels
More likely to have more Facebook friends and Twitter followers
More likely to have less Facebook friends and Twitter 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.
Budget Shoppers (10%) Quality Seekers (27%) Image Seekers (5%)
TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO INTERACT WITH BRANDS (3 SEGMENTS)
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
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
BUDGET SHOPPERS
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
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
QUALITY SHOPPERS
* 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
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
IMAGE SHOPPERS
* Not Significant
OUTCOME OF THE INTERACTION
ACTIONS PEOPLE TAKE AFTER RESEARCHING (US DATA)
8%3%
9%3%
31%20%
26%Awareness
Change Impression
Encouraged to Visit
Encouraged to Contact
Prompted to Buy
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
Foursquare
Blogs
Forums
Forums
Youtube
Online Ads
Online News
Review Sites
Product Site
Search
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
21%
31%
38%
43%
43%
44%
46%
58%
62%
73%
80%
88%
57% of people who use search use it more than once per week.
44% of people who use Facebook use it more than once per week.
SITE CATEGORY REACH
TYPES OF SITES PEOPLE USE TO RESEARCH THE PRODUCT (US DATA)
INFLUENCE SCORES BY CHANNEL AND PRODUCT CATEGORY
Automotive
Baby P
roducts
Beauty
Cookware
Electr
onics
Fash
ion
Home Impro
...
Kitchen
Appli...
Music/Fi
lms
Personal
Finan
ce
Restau
rants
Trave
l1000
1000.5
1001
1001.5
1002
1002.5
1003
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
Action 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
ACTIONS FEED BRAND INTERACTIONS FOR OTHERS
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.
METHODOLOGY
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
IMPLICATIONS?
