Allrecipes and Psychster Research Reveals Effectiveness of Multiple Advertising Formats Within Social Sites

SEATTLE, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Allrecipes.com, the world's #1 food site, launches Brand Fan Pages in response to research the company commissioned with Psychster Inc., a research firm with expertise in the psychology of social computing and measuring advertising effectiveness within social sites. While research shows a connection between consumer loyalty and a brand's general presence within social media environments, this study took a deeper dive, identifying exactly how brands can best utilize these forums. Releasing its top-line findings, Allrecipes and Psychster confirm branded profiles increase intent to purchase, especially when consumers can become fans of brands and add brand logos to their personal profile page.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100127/NY44434LOGO )

Utilizing this knowledge, Allrecipes introduced Brand Fan Pages for advertisers, offering customizable pages (similar to a Facebook fan page) which allow brands to interact directly with home cooks on Allrecipes. Brand Fan Pages allow brands to share content, experiences, and information directly with consumers who use and love their brands. For consumers, Brand Fan Pages provide a trusted forum where they can establish a relationship with their favorite brands by adding them to their "Brands I Like" list, reading and commenting on the brand's blog, viewing the brand's customized recipes, checking out the brand's images and products, and more.

"We asked our community if they would find it beneficial to connect with brands they frequently use and like, and the response was an overwhelming 'yes'," said Lisa Sharples, president of Allrecipes.com. "We are pleased this feature supports the needs of our community while also providing a service for our valued advertisers."

Research Overview

The goal of the research was to determine the most effective advertising formats for brands within social environments. The study measured user engagement, advertising perceptions and purchase intent across a variety of advertising types within social sites. To do this, Psychster tested seven types of advertisements including banner ads, newsletters, branded profiles with a reciprocal logo, branded profiles without reciprocal logo, give Widgets, get Widgets and sponsored content. Expansion of social networking and interactive advertising has led to new opportunities for advertisers, so this study will help the advertising industry choose the type of social or interactive advertisement format to fit their goals and objectives.

Summary of Research Findings

• Corporate profiles on social networking sites produced greater purchase intent and more recommendations when users could become a fan and add the logo to their own profiles than when they could not.

• Sponsored content ads, in which individuals viewed a page that was "brought to you by" a leading brand, were the most engaging but produced the least purchase intent.

• Give and Get Widgets in which individuals could create and customize something (a car or a dinner menu) and then either send it to a friend ("give" widget) or keep it for themselves ("get" widget) were more engaging than traditional banner advertisements but no more likely to produce an intent to purchase.

• Newsletters and banner ads were most likely to be seen as advertisements but banner ads increased the likelihood someone would recommend the brand to a friend.

Psychster has published a white paper with the full findings, background and survey methodology at: http://bit.ly/aGZm9u

"We devote our research to fully understanding the opportunities and effects of interaction within the social networking and social media space," said David Evans Ph.D., CEO of Psychster. "We are thrilled to have clients such as Allrecipes.com who are committed to studies that help further define and realize this market's potential while allowing them to make evidence-based decisions that benefit their site visitors and advertising partners."

About Allrecipes

Allrecipes, the world's #1 food site, receives more than 365 million annual visits from home cooks who discover and share food ideas through user-generated recipes, reviews, photos, profiles, blogs and meal ideas. For more than 13 years, the Seattle-based site has served as a dynamic, indispensable resource for cooks of all skill levels seeking trusted recipes, party ideas, everyday and holiday meal solutions, practical cooking tips and food advice. As the fastest growing food site, Allrecipes provides insights into the cooking behaviors of home cooks everywhere. Since 2008, Allrecipes has launched localized versions for the United Kingdom/Ireland, Australia/New Zealand, France, Germany, China, Japan, Quebec, the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and India. Allrecipes is the publisher of Allrecipes Dinner Spinner and Dinner Spinner Pro, the #1 food apps for the iPhone. Allrecipes offers Dinner Spinner versions for the U.S., UK, Australia, France and Germany. Allrecipes is part of Food & Entertaining @RDA, a division of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. For additional information regarding Allrecipes, please visit www.allrecipes.com.

About Psychster Inc.

Psychster Inc. is a research and consulting firm specializing in the psychology of social media since 2006. With offices in Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR, Psychster assists clients such as Allrecipes, Microsoft, and others to align their ventures with the social, cognitive, and motivational dispositions of their users. Psychster's research toolbox includes psychographic segmentation and targeting, business-intelligence databases, remote usability testing, multivariate online surveys, and beyond-the-click campaign effectiveness studies. Psychster also publishes original whitepapers and peer-reviewed research articles on the effect of social media on interpersonal and social dynamics. For additional information, please visit www.psychster.com.

SOURCE Allrecipes.com