Blogs Beat Out Social Networking

So it's official (at least according to the latest research): blogs influence online consumers purchasing behavior more than social networking. This is not really surprising, but it's nice to have the stats to corroborate my thinking on this issue.

A 2008 research study of 2,210 online consumers by Jupiter Research, "Harnessing the Power of Blogs," found that frequent blog readers (those who read more than once per month) make up 20% of the blog reading population. These avid readers say that when making a purchasing decision, they trust relevant blog content over social networking content. The survey also finds that the number of Internet users who read blogs at least once a month has grown 300% in the past four years and that when a blog does influence a purchase, it does so at a critical stage in the buying process: "Decide on a product or service" 21%. (Topping: "Refine choices" 19%; "Get support and answers" 19%; Discover products and services" 17%; "Assure" 14% ; "Inspire a purchase" 13%; and "Execute a purchase" 7%.) The key factor bearing on a blog's ability to influence a purchase is its niche focus and topical expertise (natch).

Like I said, this is not surprising and confirms my strong suspicion. Blogs are a more mature Web tool; social networking—though the buzz darling of '08—remains mostly the domain of those 29-and-under and the Internet's lesser-accepted stepchild in terms of hardcore commerce. What I think will be interesting to watch is if social networking follows a similar track to the blog, in its emergence, development, and widespread professional acceptance. Consider: most of corporate America employs bloggers today. Will it be the same for social networking five years from now?

An aside: BuzzLogic, a display ad and buzz-building firm, sponsored the survey. While I think the sponsor has a vested interest in making blogs appear to be an effective marketing tool for your products or services (and thus some of wording of the survey results PRs seemed to paint an overly-rosy picture), they have no reason, as I see it, for favoring blogs over social networking.