When It Comes To Brands, Consumers Use Social Media For This More Than Anything Else

People use social media for a wide variety of reasons – catch up with old friends, make new connections and so on. But when it comes what they use social media for regarding a given brand or product or service, most people use social media to see what other people are saying about these very same brands, products or services.

Back in August I wrote a post called Why Marketers Need To Pay Attention To Online Reviews in which I revealed a survey finding that showed that 80% of online customers change their mind about making a purchase after reading negative online reviews. I also explained in that post why a negative review can have a positive impact. It really can. Trust me. Read the post and you’ll see what I mean.

New research by NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey Company shows that the #1 thing consumers use social media for as it relates to their favorite brands is not to get coupons/discounts, or to get information about new products or even to provide feedback of their own, be it positive or negative.

The #1 reason consumers use social media as it relates to their favorite brands is to read. As in read what others are saying about their favorite brands or products or services. The chart below shows that people use social media on a personal level to connect with old friends, for entertainment purposes and so on. And on a career level to network. But look at the section labeled “Products/Services.”