• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 26, 2006

Despite a belief by some marketers that brands should always aspire toward subtlety, a study by marketing firm Sharpe Partners has found that overt brand messages only slightly reduce the likelihood that consumers will choose to share content with others online.

Fifty-six percent of the 1,071 U.S. adults respondents surveyed late last year reported being less likely to forward marketing-related messages online, while 43 percent said they were more likely to send such messages. Only 5 percent of respondents said they would refuse to share content with a clear brand message.

What's more, while three out of four consumers--75 percent--said that brand sponsorship had no impact on whether or not they choose to forward a message, one in five--19 percent--said branding actually encouraged them to forward a particular piece of content. By contrast, just 7 percent cited branding as a negative.

Additionally, Sharpe Partners' viral marketing survey determined that comedy, by far, is the most effective tool to encourage strong viral circulation. Eighty-eight percent of respondents reported forwarding jokes or cartoons. The second most popular category was news, as 56 percent of the group attest to forwarding such material.

Health care and medical information came in third--32 percent--followed by religious and spiritual material--30 percent. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said they have forwarded content related to video games, while 24 percent said they have forwarded business and personal finance information.

A full 89 percent of respondents said they actively share content with others via e-mail, the report found. Sixty-three percent of the respondents reported sharing content at least once a week, with 25 percent sharing daily or almost daily, and as many as 75 percent who reported forwarding content to up to six other recipients.

Sharpe Partners also found the most likely representative person to share content--and share it widely--to be a woman in her late thirties to early forties living in the southern United States or in the Midwest. Sixty-four percent of the female respondents said they shared content at least once a week, versus 58 percent of the males.