The document analyzes how people research and interact with brands online. It finds that high social media sharers are more likely to recommend products than low sharers. People research different types of products online and use various sites like search, reviews, social media. Actions people take like recommendations influence others' perceptions of brands. High engagement online may increase recommendations rather than direct purchases, especially for high involvement products.

1. THE SCIENCE OF SHARING

2. QUESTIONS WE ARE SEEKING TO ANSWER
 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?

3. TOP LINE FINDINGS
 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

4. DECISION MODEL
REVIEW SITES
QUALITY MORE LIKELY TO BUY
SEARCH SITES
HIGH
INVOLVEMENT BRAND SITE
MORE LIKELY TO
RECOMMEND
FACEBOOK
LOW HIGH SHARER
FACEBOOK
MORE LIKELY TO BUY
LOW SHARER
TWITTER

5. PERSONALITY SEGMENTS
BUDGET QUALITY IMAGE HIGH LOW
SHOPPER SEEKER SHOPPER SHARER SHARER
> LOW > CREATE > CONSUME
> MALE >FEMALE
INCOME CONTENT CONTENT
> HIGH > HIGH > HIGH
>USED SEARCH >FB
INCOME LOYALTY INCOME
> LOW >LIKES > EARLY
> OLDER > OLDER
LOYALTY FASHION ADOPTER

6. DEMOGRAPHICS (US DATA)
Demo % Demo %
Male 49% White 85%
Female 51% Hispanic 3%
18-24 13% African American 4%
25-44 36% Asian 5%
45-54 20% Native American 1%
55-64 15% Other 2%
65+ 16% High School 38%
0-19k 16% Associate 20%
20-49k 35%
Bachelors 27%
50-79k 23%
Masters 8%
80-99k 12%
Professional 3%
100k-149k 10%
Doctorate 2%
150k+ 4%
None 2%

7. HOW DO PEOPLE MAKE BRAND CHOICES ONLINE
 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

8. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRODUCT

9. TWO GROUPS OF PRODUCTS
 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

10. HIGH INVOLVEMENT VS. LOW INVOLVEMENT
HIGH INVOLVEMENT LOW INVOLVEMENT
More likely to be male More likely to be female
More likely to be older More likely to be younger
Less likely to be a minority* More likely to be a minority*
More likely to be a low sharer More likely to be a high sharer
More likely to be married More likely to be single
More likely to have higher level of More likely to have lower level of
education education
More likely to visit the store and More likely to buy and recommend
contact the brand
More likely to buy quality brands More likely to buy fashionable/modern
brands
More likely to buy brands More likely to buy brands with nostalgic
recommended by someone they trust appeal
* Nearly significant

11. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERSON

12. HIGH SHARERS VS. LOW SHARERS
 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

13. MATT THE HIGH SHARER (20% OF THE SAMPLE)
ASSOCIATED WITH
TYPICALLY
HIGHER INTERNET
YOUNGER
USE
MORE LIKELY TO BE
MORE LIKELY TO BE
LOYAL TO FAVORITE
A MINORITY
BRAND
ASSOCIATED WITH TYPICALLY HAS
HIGHER LEVELS OF HIGHER NUMBER
EDUCATION OF FB FRIENDS

14. 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

15. 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 More likely to care about quality brand
someone they trust
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 More likely to have less Facebook friends and Twitter
followers followers

16. 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.

17. TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO INTERACT WITH BRANDS (3 SEGMENTS)
 Budget Shoppers (10%)
 Quality Seekers (27%)
 Image Seekers (5%)

18. 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

19. BUDGET SHOPPERS
 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

20. 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

21. QUALITY SHOPPERS
 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
* Not Significant

22. 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

23. IMAGE SHOPPERS
 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
* Not Significant

24. OUTCOME OF THE INTERACTION

25. ACTIONS PEOPLE TAKE AFTER RESEARCHING (US DATA)
8%
Awareness
3% Change Impression
26%
9% Encouraged to Visit
3% Encouraged to Contact
Prompted to Buy
20% 31% Prompted to Recommend
No Action

26. 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
Electronics Music Travel Restaurants Fashion Automotive Beauty Home Improvement
Personal Finance Cookware Kitchen AppliancesBaby Products

27. TYPES OF SITES PEOPLE USE TO RESEARCH THE PRODUCT (US DATA)
 57% of people who use SITE CATEGORY REACH
search use it more than
once per week. Search 88%
 44% of people who use Product Site 80%
Facebook use it more Review Sites 73%
than once per week.
Online News 62%
Online Ads 58%
Facebook 46%
Youtube 44%
Forums 43%
Forums 43%
Blogs 38%
Foursquare 31%
Twitter 21%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

28. INFLUENCE SCORES BY CHANNEL AND PRODUCT CATEGORY
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
1003
1002.5
1002
1001.5
1001
1000.5
1000
Automotive Baby Products Beauty Cookware Electronics Fashion Home Kitchen Music/Films Personal Restaurants Travel
Improvement Appliances Finance

29. ACTIONS FEED BRAND INTERACTIONS FOR OTHERS
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

30. METHODOLOGY
 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.

31. IMPLICATIONS?
 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