Media of the masses

The role of consumers in marketing's chain of influence has changed dramatically in recent years.

Internet's millions-strong web of mind-sharing networks has evolved into a new form of mass-media.

Unlike commercial and corporate media, this media is generated and governed by the people themselves.

This vast network of forums, blogs, message boards, newsgroups and other mind-sharing platforms is commonly referred to as "Social Media".

A significant share of the information exchanged over Social Media pertains to the attitudes, intentions and behaviors of people as citizen and consumers.

This we label "Consumer Media".

Consumer Media has an increasingly decisive impact on the performance of organizations and corporations.

So much so, that Consumer Media is acknowledged as the catalyst of a new marketing "world order".  

It is a world order where individual or organized consumers create agendas, drive rumors, disclose information, generate insights and ideas, and even mobilize other consumers on a massive scale.

In doing so, consumers are challenging corporate influence, corporate discretion, and corporate capacity to create sustainable competitive advantages.

The power of Consumer Media did not escape the attention of decision makers, who are increasingly attempting to manipulate it as a marketing platform.

But on Consumer Media, it is the consumers who, by ignoring, challenging, manipulating or snowballing such stimuli, shape influence itself.

Things they won't tell YOU

Consumer Media provides unique added values to traditional consumer research platforms.

These added values stem from the fact that unlike personal interviews, focus groups, phone surveys and other traditional research platforms, Consumer Media enables to "hear" and see everything consumers share, without influencing or biasing their genuine behavior.

When decision makers, market researchers and other interested parties are not there, consumers say it all:


What's really on top of their minds

Consumer Media has the capacity to provide answers to questions that may have never been asked. It provides probably the most genuine picture of what, how and how much is on the hearts and minds of consumers in real life.

Source: Fallows, Deborah. How Women and Men use the Internet. Pew Internet & American Life Project, December 2005, PIP_Women_and_Men_online.pdf

How they say  it

Consumer Media is a unique window into the dynamics and inner workings of consumer culture. Here is where consumers use the full plethora of vocabulary, imagery and references they use when talking with friends and peers.

When they say it

Consumer Media is a real-time media. This, together with Internet's broad availability and ease of use encourages consumers to use it as their first media of choice. At the same time, it enables decision makers to tap to emerging issues, opportunities and threats as they emerge.

A reality check for market segmentation

Consumer Media challenges the way decision makers have been defining their target audiences.

For years, marketers and media planners were trained to look at markets from a demographic and later on from a sociographic viewpoint.

Consumer Media has provided the ultimate proof that in real-life consumer influence and behavior are driven primarily by shared-interest, and do not necessarily follow demographic divides.

Furthermore, in all major markets, consumers are active online in such massive numbers that almost every significant demographic segment is represented increasingly closer to its overall market share.

These consumers take part in online mind sharing either as participants or as viewers, but also disseminate online influences to their offline networks.

Source: Horrigan, John. Online Communities. Pew Internet & American Life Project, October 2001, PIP_Communities_Report.pdf

[Back to top]