Blogs, More Than Social Networks, are Go-To Source for Advice for Women
Social networks are getting all the buzz these days, but don’t forget about blogs. According to a recent study, they still hold plenty of sway of female consumers.
A joint study conducted by BlogHer and iVillage, and co-sponsored by Ketchum and The Nielsen Company, showed that younger female users are the most active readers and writers of blogs.
Millennials (ages 18-25) made up the biggest portion of blog readers at 30.3 percent. Gen X/Y (26-42) followed with 29.3 percent, while Boomers (43-61) trailed with 23.1 percent and Seniors (62-76) rounded out the pack with 17.2 percent.
The picture was quite similar for blog writers, as 40.4 percent were Millennials, 28.1 percent were Gen X/Y, 18.7 percent were Boomers and 12.8 percent were Seniors.
This seems to jibe with recent findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which noted in February that Internet users who were 18-29 were about one-third more likely to say they blogged than those 30 and older, according to eMarketer.
PostRelease and Synovate also found that those 18-24 blogged more than double the average rate in late 2009.
The BlogHer/iVillage study also found that 63 percent of women go to blogs as their media destination of choice when it comes to looking for advice and recommendations. Social networks, in contrast, received a 37 percent vote of confidence.
In addition, 77 percent of women see blogs as their go-to source of information, as opposed to 37 percent of those who said social networks was their destination for information. Meanwhile, 59 percent pointed to blogs as the online source best suited to convey information about new products, versus 20 percent who said the same about social networks.
Still, good old Internet search was the most popular ad-supported resource for information that aided these users with a purchase decision, with 92 percent of respondents noting so.
According to 81.6 percent of respondents to the survey, expressing themselves is the reason why they blog, while 80.6 percent said they do so for fun, and 75.4 percent said they do so to connect with others like them.
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