NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Brunswick Group LLC, a global corporate and financial communications consultancy, today released results of its third online survey of nearly 500 institutional investors and sell-side analysts in North America, Europe and Asia examining the changing impact of various factors in their investment recommendations and decisions since the initial benchmark set in 2009.  

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A key finding of this year's survey is that the global investment community continues to look to companies as their primary source of information as they form their investment recommendations and decisions. In addition, since Brunswick's last survey in 2010, investor and analyst interaction with digital and social media has increased substantially and deeper online engagement is increasingly driving investment action.

"Usage and engagement of digital and social media among those in the investment community is increasing rapidly," said Rachelle Spero, Partner at Brunswick. "More telling, however, is that its influence on investment decisions continues to grow too. Now, a quarter of those surveyed said they have made an investment decision or recommendation after initially reading a blog.  For Twitter, that figure is one in eight, up considerably from our last survey two years ago. This suggests now is the time for companies to adopt digital and social media for investor-related content distribution and influencer engagement."

Key findings of the survey include:

• 57 percent of participants selected "information direct from companies" as the source with most influence, while 85 percent ranked it among the top three sources of influence. Within this category, face time with management is by far the most important factor.
• 14 percent of participants included "digital and social media" among their top three most influential sources, up from 6 percent two years ago.
• 86 percent of investors say digital and social media sources have become more important this year, with investors in Asia appearing to lead the charge. 

"While investors and analysts are increasingly influenced by digital and social media as the basis for investment decisions, companies and managers should be encouraged that the vast majority look to information direct from companies as the main building blocks of their investment rationales. The centerpiece of the information mosaic continues to rest with companies' own communications efforts," concluded Spero.

* Digital media was defined as websites, video, and syndicated sources. Social media was defined as blogs, micro-blogging services like Twitter, social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn and message boards.

Other findings include:

• The number of investment professionals who have investigated an issue after first learning about it on Twitter has nearly tripled since 2010 (30 percent in 2012 vs. 11 percent in 2010).
• A quarter of those surveyed said that they had made an investment decision or recommendation after initially reading a blog.  For Twitter, that figure is one in eight, up three-fold from two years ago (12 percent in 2012 vs. 4 percent in 2010).
• Analyst research gained ground in 2012 jumping 15 points and rising to the second most influential source.
• Real-time subscription information services, such as Bloomberg and Reuters, declined 10 points.

The survey was distributed by Brunswick Insight to a database of several thousand buy-side investors and sell-side analysts in the U.S., Europe and Asia in October 2012. Four hundred seventy six analysts and investors responded with a nearly 52/48 split between the sell-side and buy-side, and a 40/40/20 split between respondents based in the U.S., Europe and Asia, respectively (Asia added to the survey in 2012).  Participant profile details were captured in the survey, including firm type, geographic location, sector focus, market-cap focus and age group. Please click here to see a presentation on the survey's results on Slideshare.

Brunswick Insight is the Firm's specialist opinion research practice, focusing on understanding the views of opinion formers around the world. For more information on Brunswick's Digital and Social Media Survey, please visit www.brunswickgroup.com.

About Brunswick Group LLC

Brunswick is an international corporate communications partnership that helps businesses and other organizations address critical communications challenges. We started in London in 1987 and have grown organically into a private partnership of 21 cities around the world. Today we have around 90 Partners – senior professionals from a range of industry backgrounds – and a total staff of more than 600. We offer our clients a range of specialist capabilities – by issue, transaction, sector or audience – designed to deliver the desired outcome. Brunswick operates as a one-firm firm, offering a seamless service across international boundaries.

Contact:

Jason Golz
jgolz@brunswickgroup.com 
(415) 671-7676

Rachelle Spero
rspero@brunswickgroup.com 
(212) 333-3810

Sparky Zivin
szivin@brunswickgroup.com 
(202) 393-7337

SOURCE Brunswick Group LLC