Social Media Marketing Efforts Mostly Ignored by Consumers

Social Media

May 20, 2009 -- According to a report by Knowledge Networks, while 83% of the Internet population (ages 13 to 54) participates in social media – 47% on a weekly basis – less than 5% regularly turn to social media sites for “guidance on purchase decisions.”

Almost two thirds (63%) of social media users agree that ads are a "fair price to pay" for use of these sites and features,  but a much smaller proportion (16%) say they are more likely to buy from companies that advertise on social sites. "Staying connected" to friends and family, as well as meeting new people is "most liked" (54%) about participating in social media.

"Social media use" was defined as having visited any one of 27 social sites (e.g. – Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, YouTube, etc.) or having used social features on other sites.
 


About: The study, How People Use® Social Media, was produced as part of The Home Technology Monitor™, a service that provides views of which media technologies people own or have access to, as well as how they are integrating those technologies into their everyday lives. The research was conducted from March 10 through 16, 2009, among 502 members of KnowledgePanel®, an online panel based on a representative sample of the full U.S. population.
 

Sources:  Marketing Charts, Social Media Generates Hype; Fails to Deliver Marketing Punch, May 21, 2009 and Knowledge Networks press release, Internet Users Turn to Social Media to Seek One Another, Not Brands or Products, May 20, 2009.