Yahoo: Four In 10 Discuss Brands Online

Not content with simply making purchases, a sizable chunk of Web users also spread the word about the products they favor. That's one of the findings of a new Yahoo report about "brand advocates" released Tuesday.

For the study, Yahoo and Create With Context surveyed 2,261 consumers who had recently made major purchases and conducted in-depth interviews in 24 homes. The respondents had, within the last six months, purchased consumer electronics or automobiles, paid for hotel rooms, or taken out a home loan.

Yahoo concluded that 40% of respondents were also "brand advocates," defined by the report as "adventurous opinion leaders who are socially well-connected, express their opinions and viewpoints and continually discover new content online."

Among other traits, so-called brand advocates were more likely to use social media than were the non-advocates, according to Yahoo. Eighty-seven percent reported using search engines several times a week, compared to 74% of the non-advocates. Likewise, 45% said they watched online video several times a week, compared to 19% of non-advocates, while 32% either wrote blog posts or message board entries, compared to just 8% of the non-advocates.

Brand advocates who had just taken out home loans were especially likely to discuss the transaction online, with 59% of that group saying they had written about their purchase, compared to 30% of the non-advocates. Fifty-six percent of consumer electronics purchasers who were also brand advocates wrote about their purchase online, compared to 27% of the non-advocates; among automobile purchasers, 52% of the brand advocates wrote about their buy, compared to 20% of the non-advocates; and for hotel travelers, 44% of advocates wrote about the hotel, compared to 15% of the non-advocates.

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