SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

Your Practical Guide For HOW TO ENGAGE CONSUMERs

BASED ON THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD PRIVACY

SOCIAL LISTENING

V S. DIGITAL PRIVACY A Consumer Study

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SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

To uncover and understand consumers’ opinions, emotions and behaviors, companies now regularly listen to conversations in social media about brands, products and services. But doing so raises new questions related to online eavesdropping and digital privacy. Do consumers know companies are listening? Do they find it acceptable? Which kinds of comments do they want companies to respond to? And looking at the big picture, does pervasive social listening turn companies into an online Big Brother?

J.D. Power and Associates (JDPA), in association with NetBase, conducted a survey in December 2012 in order to answer these questions. While the survey results differ by age group, they reveal a striking level of ambivalence about social listening:

• Surprisingly, 32% of consumers of all ages and 38% of Millennials (18–24-year-olds) have no idea companies are listening to what they say

• Over 40% think listening online intrudes on privacy, even though this is “social” media

• Nevertheless, nearly 50% say companies should listen to improve products and nearly 60% want companies to respond to complaints

On the one hand, many consumers feel that they should be free to talk about brands without the company listening in. On the other hand, just as many know that companies are listening and expect them to respond to both compliments and complaints posted online.

The take-away for CMOs, digital marketers and others responsible for social media strategy is that you need to be telepathic—which you’re not, so the next best plan is to:

• Don’t just listen, understand – first

• Consider the context of updates and conversations

• Engage with the intention of delivering mutual value

• Demonstrate how listening doesn’t intrude but instead builds relationships

Do those things and consumers are much more likely to understand and appreciate the upside of social listening.

Exe c u tive S UMMAR Y

SO... what’s a company to do

SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Social Networking 90.4% 81.7% 84.5% 77.3% 70.8%

Blogs 36.5% 36.9% 28.2% 21.0% 14.2%

Microblogs 39.1% 35.8% 29.0% 30.9% 15.8%

Photo Sharing 42.6% 38.8% 29.4% 17.7% 16.2%

Video Sharing 75.7% 64.2% 53.5% 51.9% 31.6%

Shopping 41.7% 55.2% 55.1% 48.6% 37.5%

Location Sharing 15.7% 16.0% 12.2% 3.9% 2.4%

Rating and Review 25.2% 37.3% 36.7% 27.6% 19.0%

Bookmarking and Tagging 32.2% 32.8% 20.4% 16.6% 13.4%

Video sharing spans all generations, but companies can tailor content specifically for the platforms used most by specific age groups.

Figure 1. General Usage of Web Tools by Age Group

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What Are Different Age Groups Doing on the Web?

When it comes to the general usage of web tools, social networking (Facebook) ranks highest among consumers. Ninety percent of Millennials (18–24-year-olds) use social networking platforms compared to 71% of Boomers (45–65-year-olds). As for other web tools, Millennials use the web for video sharing (75%), photo sharing (43%), shopping (42%), and microblogs (39%). Similarly, Boomers’ next-most-common web activities are shopping (38%), video sharing (32%), ratings/reviews (19%) and photo sharing (16%).

About the Survey

To understand how consumers of different ages feel about companies listening to conversations in social media, JDPA, in association with NetBase, conducted a survey in December 2012 of 1,062 U.S. consumers ages 18–55+. Following are the questions asked, percentages for each possible response in five age ranges, and interpretations of key findings.

SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Did you know companies may be

listening to what you say online?

No 38.3% 31.0% 31.0% 28.2% 32.4%

Yes 61.7% 69.0% 69.0% 71.8% 67.6%

Figure 2. Awareness of Social Listening by Age Group

Figure 3. Approval of Social Listening by Age Group

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Do you want companies to listen to what you say about them online?

Don’t Know/Not Sure

25.2% 21.3% 20.0% 23.2% 23.3%

No 17.4% 18.3% 16.3% 17.7% 36.0%

Yes 57.4% 60.4% 63.7% 59.1% 40.7%

Who Knows Companies Are Listening?

Although 18–24 year olds are the most likely to be using social networking sites and Twitter, they are the least likely to realize that companies might be listening to them online (38%). Following Millennials, older Boomers are the second most likely not to know companies are listening (32%).

Do Consumers Want Companies To Listen Online?

A majority of consumers say they do want companies to listen—but only to what they say about that company. Of those who don’t like “Big Brother companies,” Boomers put up the biggest fight (36% said they don’t want companies listening to what they say about them online), while only 17% of Millennials said no. At least 20% of each age group (and 25% of 18–24-year-olds) don’t yet know how they feel about companies listening.

Be more open with consumers when it comes to social media. This will also help to educate consumers about social listening.

This is another opportunity for companies to raise awareness (especially with Boomers) and set the standard on engagement.

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SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

Figure 4. Should Companies Respond When Mentioned Online?

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Do you want companies to

respond to you when you talk

about them online?

Don’t Know

18.3% 17.5% 15.9% 18.8% 17.0%

No 17.4% 23.5% 20.0% 17.1% 32.8%

Yes 64.3% 59.0% 64.1% 64.1% 50.2%

Should Companies Respond When Consumers Talk About Them Online?

Although 17% of Millennials don’t want companies to listen and 25% don’t know how they feel about listening, 64% want companies to respond when they’re talked about. Although 36% of Boomers don’t want companies listening and 23% don’t know if they do, 50% want companies to respond when they’re talked about. Millennials (64%) account for the highest number of respondents who want companies to respond, while Boomers are the lowest.

There’s clearly a growing desire for companies to respond to consumer issues online—but only if a conversation is directed toward them.TIP for d ig i ta l marketers

SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Companies that listen to online conversations are intruding on consumers

40.9% 38.1% 41.2% 41.4% 53.8%

Companies should monitor online conversations to improve products and services

40.0% 53.7% 49.0% 56.9% 36.8%

Companies should respond to complaints posted in social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)

62.6% 60.1% 58.8% 63.0% 49.4%

Consumers should be able to talk about companies online without that company listening in

40.9% 51.1% 48.6% 49.7% 58.5%

Companies should only respond to online comments made directly to them (i.e., on their Facebook page, tweeted to them, etc.)

67.0% 63.8% 63.7% 63.5% 64.8%

If I make a negative remark about a company in an online post, that company should respond to me

47.8% 49.6% 40.8% 53.0% 38.7%

If I make a positive remark about a company in an online post, that company should respond to me.

47.8% 44.4% 40.0% 48.1% 33.2%

Figure 5. Desire to Have Companies Respond When Directly Addressed. Note: Percent figures below note respondents

who agreed with the statement by rating a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-5.

Should Companies Respond When Addressed Directly?

About 65% of consumers expect companies to respond if spoken to directly via social media. Boomers are the most likely to think that listening is a form of intrusion (54%). Consumers ages 25–34 and 45–54 are the most likely to agree that companies should monitor conversations in order to improve products and services (over half of both groups agreed).

Consumers vary on their opinions of when companies should be listening and how they should respond, except when it comes to complaints. If a consumer is making a complaint, companies better be listening and ready to respond!

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SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

DON’Tjust l isten.The first step is to understand what consumers are saying. Are you hearing one loud voice or a growing trend? Is sentiment up because of a product feature or a great advertisement? By understanding the full picture, you can craft responses that are aligned with your social media objectives.

CONSIDER the context of

updates and conversations.Are consumers reaching out to you directly or just venting to their friends? Remember that their context—not yours—is driving their expectations of a response.

ENGAGE with the intention

of delivering mutual value.In the e-commerce world, consumers have shown that they are willing to give up some level of privacy in exchange for better service. Likewise, proactive service that clearly benefits them is the best way to alleviate their privacy concerns.

DEMONSTRATE how listening

doesn ’ t intrude but instead

builds relationships.Your actions speak louder than your words. And the social web can magnify the positive effects of those actions.

For those of us who lack paranormal abilities, the next best plan is ...

Consumers in social media want it both ways: They don’t want companies listening in on their online conversations (too Big Brother), but they expect them to respond to their needs. So what’s a company to do? The take-away for CMOs, digital marketers and others responsible for social media strategy is that you need to be telepathic.

What’s a company to doSO ...

SOCIAL LISTENING VS. DIGITAL PRIVACY Brought to you by :

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif.,

J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing

information services company providing

performance improvement, social media and

customer satisfaction insights and solutions.

The company’s quality and satisfaction

measurements are based on responses from

millions of consumers annually. For more

information on car reviews and ratings, car

insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings,

and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power

and Associates is a business unit of The

McGraw-Hill Companies.

NetBase delivers the enterprise social intelligence platform that

global enterprises use to monitor, understand, and engage with

customers in real time. Using a high-precision natural language

processing (NLP) engine combined with text analytics and machine

learning, our platform processes billions of social media posts to

extract structured insights delivered via customizable dashboards.

Our solutions enable marketing, public relations, market research,

customer service, sales, and product innovation leaders to craft

winning strategies faster. Clients include Coca-Cola, Kraft, HP,

ESPN, Taco Bell, GfK, and J. D. Power and Associates. NetBase

powers the weekly Sentiment Tracker in the Wall Street Journal

and our solutions are sold globally by SAP AG.

For more information, visit: www.netbase.com.

@NetBase NetBaseInc

NetBase Solutions, Inc NetBaseInc

©2013 NetBase Solutions, Inc. and J.D. Power and Associates