Roses Are Red. Violets Are Blue. How Do Consumers Show They Care About You?

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, Americans will get in touch with their romantic sides to show their affections for one another; but how do U.S. adults show their love for their favorite companies and brands? Today, local market consumer research and insights firm Scarborough highlights the 13 percent of U.S. adults who say social networking is important for showing support for their favorite companies or brands.

Eighty percent of Social Brand Supporters agree that when they find a brand they like, they stick with it. Engaging with Social Brand Supporters has become necessary for the reputation management of a brand, as well as for its financial solvency. Social Brand Supporters are a company's core audience for grassroots marketing strategies as well as its ticket to taking advertising campaigns viral. In addition, 18 percent of Social Brand Supporters spent $1,000 or more online shopping in the past year.

Are you interested enough in Social Brand Supporters to ask for their digits? They are incredibly engaged on their mobile phones. Social Brand Supporters over-index for every measured mobile activity including being 89 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to use their mobile device for social networking and 77 percent more likely to use their phones to watch video clips. Social Brand Supporters aren't afraid to spend in order to stay constantly connected; they are 24 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to have spent $150 or higher on last month's mobile phone bill.

No one likes unrequited love, and so reaching Social Brand Supporters where they spend time allows brands and companies to show their consumers that the feelings are mutual. Social Brand Supporters are 80 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to spend five hours or more on social networking sites per day. Among the internet sites they were most likely to visit in the past 30 days are: Twitter (62% more likely to visit), LivingSocial (58% more likely), Facebook (57% more likely), Pandora (47% more likely) and Groupon (35% more likely).

Social Brand Supporters also show brand love by shopping. The top department stores they purchased from in the past 30 days are Walmart (58% of Social Brand Supporters bought here), Target (40%), Dollar Tree (25%), Dollar General (19%) and Kohl's (19%). In the next 12 months, Social Brand Supporters live in a household that plan to buy a Tablet PC (62% more likely to plan to purchase), eReader (44% more likely) and a Blu-ray disc player (38% more likely).

Staying engaged and connected is necessary for a successful relationship with consumers but Social Brand Supporters also expect brands and companies to behave in a way that shows they can be taken home to meet mom. Social Brand Supporters are 29 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to "agree mostly" that they expect the brands they buy to support social causes and 32 percent more likely to agree mostly that they are more likely to purchase brands that support a cause they care about.

Do Social Brand Supporters sound like your type? They are 18 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to be women, 79 percent more likely to be Millennials* and 27 percent more likely to belong to Generation X*. They are 12 percent more likely to identify as Hispanic and 22 percent more likely to identify as Black. The top local markets for Social Brand Supporters are Austin, TX (18% of adult residents are Social Brand Supporters); Norfolk, VA (17%) and Miami, FL (16%).

*Scarborough defines the different American generations as Millennials (age 18-29), Generation X (30-44), Baby Boomers (45-64) and the Silent Generation (65+).

Continue the conversation or share your opinions with Scarborough via Twitter by reaching out to @ScarboroughInfo.

This data is from Scarborough USA+, Release 1, 2012 - Scarborough/GfK MRI Attitudinal Insights Data. Scarborough measures 210,000 adults aged 18+ annually across a wide variety of media, lifestyle, shopping and demographic categories.

For more information regarding this or other Scarborough studies, please contact Brad Sherer at [email protected].

About Scarborough Research
Scarborough (www.scarborough.com, [email protected]) measures American life. Our consumer insights reflect shopping patterns, media usage across platforms, and lifestyle trends for adults. Media professionals and marketers use Scarborough insights to make smarter marketing/business decisions on things like ad placement, multicultural targeting, and sponsorship opportunities.  The company's core syndicated consumer insight studies in 77 Top-Tier Markets, its Multi-Market Study and its national USA+ Study are Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited. Other products and services include Scarborough Mid-Tier Local Market Studies, Hispanic Studies and Custom Research Solutions. Scarborough measures 2,000 consumer categories and serves a broad client base that includes marketers, advertising agencies, print and electronic media (broadcast and cable television, radio stations), sports teams and leagues and out-of-home media companies. Surveying more than 210,000 adults annually, Scarborough is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. (www.arbitron.com) and The Nielsen Company (www.nielsen.com).

SOURCE Scarborough Research