The Second Decade of Prosumerism

Transcription

EURO RSCG WORLDWIDE
Vol.10, 2011
The Second Decade
of Prosumerism
ILLUSTRATION creditS: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2
What Is “the Future”?
5
The Past: The First Decade of Prosumerism
8
The Present: Changing Channels of Influence
10
The Future: The Second Decade of Prosumerism
12
1. Utilitarians
16
2. Entertainers
20
3. Advocates
24
4. Co-Creators
28
5. Competitors
32
Who Rules Each Country?
33
Playing to Type
Prosumerism
1
What Is “the Future”?
Most people reading this are interested in what’s going to
happen next week, next year, and next decade: the future. But
before we get to the business of looking ahead, let’s clarify
what we mean by “the future.” The way we think about the
future has shaped the way we work on Prosumers, so it makes
sense to spell things out before we go any further.
We all have a pretty good idea of what the past is. It’s behind
us in time; it’s what has already happened, which can’t be
changed. It’s easy to imagine the past by piecing it together
from eyewitness accounts, pictures, buildings, and remains; we
have our own memories, too.
The future is more mysterious, because it hasn’t happened yet.
It’s unknown, but is it unknowable?
Thinking about the future isn’t just idle
philosophical speculation. Thinking about the
future and how it will pan out is a key part
of our work as marketers and trendspotters.
Whether or not we’ve had “futurist” and
“future” as part of our job description or
departmental title (some of us have), we
spend a lot of our time thinking ahead about
what will be.
Aside from residual superstition (fingers
crossed) and occasional peeks at the
horoscope, we don’t think the future is fixed;
we don’t regard it as something that can be
read off by experts, like a DNA sequence or
the light signatures from distant stars. We
regard the future as fluid, shaped by flows
from the past and the present. In business, in
marketing, and in society at large, we don’t
believe that anything is certain to happen.
But some events are more probable than
others, and some things happening now can
make future events even more probable. It
has been our experience that the future is
2
Prosumer Report Vol.10
shaped in particular by people who create
and embrace change. So our first premise
about the future is that it’s up for grabs, that
it’s shaped by people who want to shape it
and have the energy and influence to do so.
Our second premise is that a few people
disproportionately shape the future. A very
few of them are the high-end shapers: the
scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs
who create totally new products or combine
existing products in new ways; the giants
of technology, with obvious examples such
as Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google,
Steve Jobs of Apple, and Mark Zuckerberg of
Facebook; other likely future shapers are
Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and now
CEO of Tesla Motors, and life sciences
entrepreneur Craig Venter. Far more
numerous are the ordinary people who pay
attention to the high-end shapers or the
products they create, who try out new things
and tell other people about them.
Our third premise is that whatever happens
between now and any point in the future
will be strikingly (and significantly) different
from what has happened so far. The pace of
change is accelerating, driven in particular
by the effects of science and technology,
economics, demographics, and politics. It
took less than a decade for MP3 technology
plus broadband connections to overturn
the music industry and kill CDs as the
principle form of music distribution. It took
much less than a decade for DVRs to make
time-shifted TV viewing the norm and with it
pervasive ad skipping.
Prosumerism
3
“Consumers are so yesterday.
The new target is
‘prosumers’: proactive
individuals
who not only seek out as much information
as possible about products and services but
are eager to pass it on to others...”
– Adweek
4
The Past: The First Decade
of Prosumerism
Sometime back in the last century, in the 1990s, “cyberpunk”
author William Gibson reportedly made this pithy observation:
“The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.”
For those of us traveling around the world, observing and
interacting with hundreds of different people, those words were
both a smart statement of truth and an intriguing challenge.
The truth of the statement was self-evident.
We saw plenty of people rooted in the past,
mistrustful of change, set in their ways,
and intent on continuing as before. We
saw others drawn to the future, hungry for
what’s next, continually seeking and creating
change. As social observers and marketers
with a trendspotting mission, we were
especially interested in those consumers
who seek and create change. We knew they
were out there, shaping the future before
everyone else. The challenge was how to find
them systematically.
Clearly, there have always been locations
that are more future-oriented than others
and draw more change-oriented people
compared with others: New York compared
with Newfoundland, Silicon Valley compared
with the Central Valley, Tokyo and Singapore
compared with Kyoto and Saigon. In fact,
even within the same cities there are
localities that are more future-oriented; even
within the same localities and social circles
there are some people who are more futureoriented than others.
So our challenge wasn’t just finding
countries, towns, and locales that were ahead
of the curve. And it wasn’t just finding the
people in those localities who were living the
future early. As marketers interested in the
spread of ideas and influence, we didn’t want
lone wolves and solitary geeks who were
striking out for the future on their own. So
the other half of the challenge was to identify
those individuals who were not only changeminded and future-oriented but were also
connecting with others and influencing them.
They were not just moving into the future;
they were helping it happen by favoring new
products, adapting and adopting them, and
sharing their opinions with others. They
weren’t just passively consuming goods and
services; they were proactively seeking them
out, helping to produce them, and helping
to propagate them.
We were getting a clear sense that these
people were more than just consumers, so we
needed a different name to talk about them.
Alvin Toffler coined the term “Prosumers”
in his 1980 book The Third Wave, and we
thought it felt just right for the people we
were studying also. Toffler’s book identified
three waves of production and consumption.
In the First Wave, producers and consumers
were one and the same; people consumed
what they themselves produced. In the
Second Wave, producers and consumers
were systematically separated by industrial
processes and specialization. In the Third
Wave, as described by Toffler, producers
and consumers recombined in partnerships
that develop products and services:
Producer + Consumer = the Prosumer.
Toffler’s take on Prosumers focuses on the
rise of self-service, self-help, and do-ityourself activities.
When we started talking about Prosumers,
we turbocharged the term with the
technological interactivity barely evident
in 1980. But there was another factor that
made us think Prosumer was the perfect
handle: The “pro” comes from the Latin for
Prosumerism
5
“forward” and hyperlinks to multiple related
notions: proactive, productive, progressive,
prospective, and professional.
Going into 2001, we had a name for the
people we were seeing, we were clear about
their key attributes and we had worked out
an algorithm to identify them in surveys. We
started devoting substantial resources to
monitoring their evolution and to quantifying
and analyzing them in numerous global
studies fielded across our network.
It’s now been a decade since Euro RSCG
published our benchmark piece on the
subject, “The Empowered Consumer in the
Age of Globalization.” Using our algorithm,
we have been able to identify those
respondents in any survey sample who are
most engaged with what’s happening and
seek out information and opinions and
take account of outside information
and opinions into evaluating their own
experiences and actively share their views
with others. Summarizing the findings of
our benchmark survey in 2002, we
highlighted the following points:
–
Prosumers pass it on. The urge to pass on information and opinions to others is
the absolute defining core of
Prosumerism. No wonder Prosumers
become hubs of information and opinions.
– People consult Prosumers. They are much
more likely than average consumers to be
consulted for tips and recommendations.
–
Prosumers don’t forgive and forget.
Nobody likes a poor product or service
experience, but Prosumers dislike them
more than most.
–
Prosumers consult widely, then make up their own mind. They typically gather information widely for the material they
need to decide on their own; they
experiment even if they sometimes make
mainstream conclusions.
The 20 percent or so of average samples who
qualify as Prosumers exhibit consistent traits
beyond those specified in our segmentation
algorithm. They’re also far more brandand marketing-savvy than average, more
6
sharply aware of their worth as consumers,
and more insistent on being respected and
catered to by brands – especially the brands
they champion. In a nutshell, they’re more
energetic, more interested, and more
engaged, and that makes them important
agents of influence. They have a lot in
common with the Mavens, Connectors, and
Salesmen that Malcolm Gladwell highlighted
in his 2000 book The Tipping Point.
What we’ve seen over the past decade is
the spread of the Prosumer mindset and the
development of technologies that foster it.
The conditions for Prosumerism were
already in place in the 1990s and before, but
it was digital technology that took it to the
next level. By 2001, interactivity was fast
enough and widespread enough to make it
a growing factor in the mainstream. There
was plenty of information available for
Prosumers to seek out on the Internet and
growing numbers of sites that allowed them
to share their opinions.
Then along came social media. Back in the
early 2000s, there were bulletin boards and
user groups but only one platform that would
now count as social media: SixDegrees. Then
came Friendster and MySpace in 2003, along
with Blogger (acquired by Google), followed
by Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006.
The mass spread and consumer adoption
of smart phones made things even more
intense. The key event was probably Apple’s
launch of the game-changing iPhone in 2007,
offering telephone connections, texting, and
access to social media anywhere, at any time.
With the Internet, Prosumers have been able
to find information faster and more widely
than was possible in pre-digital days. With
social media, Prosumers have been able to
share whatever interests them: links to their
blogs or to third-party sites, photos, videos,
music, jokes, chat, tips, and articles. And
with mobile devices, Prosumers have been
able to do what they love doing while on the
move, without limits.
Of course, Prosumers aren’t the only ones
making frequent use of the Internet, social
media, and smart phones, but our surveys
have shown that Prosumers use them more
smart shoppers
and proud of it. But
“These people are
even more importantly,
prosumers enjoy talking
about the products they love
or hate, whether it’s the sluggish service
at a restaurant, a cheap but good label of wine
or the dog food that makes Fluffy’s coat shine.”
– Edmonton Journal
“The first ever ET Euro RSCG
Prosumer study showed a marked
increase in economic nationalism
in both China and India. It is clearly
a good time to be in these two
countries. There is a newfound
confidence and pride in homegrown brands and products.”
– The Economic Times (India)
than most. In a recent six-country survey
regarding corporate social responsibility
that was completed by Euro RSCG Worldwide
and polled people in Brazil, China, France,
India, the U.K., and the U.S., Prosumers were
consistently more apt than non-Prosumers
to use social media to share online content
they find useful and informative (92 percent
vs. 72 percent), entertaining or humorous
(91 percent vs. 70 percent). They were also
more inclined than non-Prosumers to use
social media to inform their purchase
decisions and find great deals (79 percent
vs. 53 percent).
Prosumer Percentages Globally
Over the years, we’ve consistently found
that knowing what Prosumers are thinking
and doing gives our clients and us valuable
insights into the nature, direction, and
pace of change.
Brazil
China
France
U.K.
U.S.
0%
Percent 10%
20%
30%
40%
Percent Historical
(Euro RSCG Worldwide, New Consumer data, Fall 2009)
Prosumerism
7
The Present: Changing
Channels of Influence
Since we started tracking and studying Prosumers, the pace
of change has accelerated. Not only have the dynamics of
market and brand influence changed more in the past decade
than in the previous four, but they’ve also changed more in
the past two years than in the previous eight.
Until the late 1990s, traditional media was
the only media of significant influence; it
was the only media regularly consumed by
millions. Anybody who wanted to influence
those millions for a brand or a cause either
had to own the media (e.g., News Corp.),
buy advertising space in it, or get editorial
coverage through PR.
Traditional media hasn’t gone away as a mass
phenomenon or a means of influence. We
still have newspapers, although circulation
is in a downward spiral for many. We still
have magazines, although circulation is not
buoyant. In the U.K., big publishers report
tough times for many titles, and the news is
similar in the U.S. and Canada.
We still have TV, with more channels, more
programming, and more reach than ever.
In fact, despite predictions that consumers
would switch attention from TV to the
Internet, TV viewing is still increasing. In
the U.K., the national regulator Ofcom
reported that viewers watched an average
of three hours and 45 minutes of television
a day in 2009, up 3 percent from 2004. In
the U.S., Nielsen reported that Americans
watched a weekly average of 35 hours of TV
plus two hours of time-shifted TV by DVR
in 2009; high-definition programming and
the enhanced quality of flat-screen TVs have
encouraged the increase.
Traditional media is still alive and kicking as
a focus of consumer attention and a channel
of influence. At the same time, the Internet
in general – and social media in particular –
have become more present in the everyday
lives of ordinary consumers and more visible
8
in the traditional media. Not a day goes by
without TV, newspapers, radio, and press
mentioning Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
blogs, and other social media. SoMe has
increasingly been providing channels for
new types of influencers, who command
attention not because they work for a brand
and its marketers, nor because they work for
traditional media organizations, but because
they’ve built a reputation through their own
efforts in their own name, one link at a time.
The extent of the influence exerted by
these social media superusers remains to
be measured accurately and scientifically
(there’s a challenge for social scientists!),
but there’s no doubt that it is growing.
Serious news organizations now routinely
feature interviews and opinions from people
whom they describe simply as bloggers;
the blue-chip BBC political discussion show
“Any Questions?” on Dec. 17, 2010, featured
“Paul Staines, better known as the blogger
Guido Fawkes” alongside the usual selection
of politicians. In the other direction, some
established media figures are extending
their influence through social media.
Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert
has become a prolific blogger and tweeter.
For anyone interested in the dynamics
of influence, the most arresting news
from Nielsen is that consumers are using
the Internet while watching TV. We’ve
heard plenty of anecdotes about “media
multitasking,” and now the metrics are
showing it. In the last quarter of 2009,
simultaneous use of the Internet while
watching TV rose by 35 percent over the
previous year, to three and a half hours a
month. Almost 60 percent of American TV
viewers now use the Internet once a month
while watching TV. “Using the Internet” in
this context might mean idly surfing, but it’s
more likely to involve checking up on what’s
on TV (“What’s the music for this show?”
“What’s the car in the title sequence?” “How
is this movie rated?”) or commenting on the
action through social media (“Wasn’t that the
funniest scene ever?” “What does she see in
him?” “This guy is not at all convincing”).
Nielsen’s reporting distinction between TV
and Internet, however, is already looking old.
Technology companies, TV manufacturers,
cable companies, and satellite providers are
all looking for ways to deliver TV content and
U.S. Prosumer Demographics and Psychographics
Education (Completed college or more)
Diversity
White
Non-White
Wealth (HHI $50K+)
Values “Experiences” over “Luxuries”
Researches Products Online
Is Environmentally Friendly
Is Health-Conscious
Believes in the Power of Internet to Bring People Together
Prosumer 25%
50%
Total Population
Whatever technologies are giving access to
content and interactivity, the key point is that
they are converging. Consumers like to switch
between media activities, and they prefer to
have fewer devices rather than more; this is
what makes the iPad such an alluring
proposition. The more interactive technologies
become available anywhere – TV room,
bedroom, bathroom, boardroom, waiting room,
street, car, bar – the more consumers have
access to interactions over social media, and
the more those interactions become part of
normal life and channels of influence.
Through SoMe, consumers create
the potential for wide-scale ongoing
conversations about whatever they’re doing
and whatever interests them – just like faceto-face or telephone conversations, but far
wider and not dependent on both parties
being present at the same time. Mention
that you’re going downtown tomorrow,
and somebody in the vicinity may well
recommend checking out the coffee in one
place or the sales in another, or an exhibition
or show. If you’re watching TV, there’s a good
chance that others are watching the same
show and are online commenting about it.
Age (18-34 years old)
0%
Internet interactivity through the same screen.
Exactly which screen is still an open issue.
While some consumers brag about the size
and clarity of their flat-screen TV, others brag
that they don’t have a TV because they do all
their media consumption on a computer.
75%
100%
Social media has created the potential
for hundreds of millions of ongoing
conversational streams weaving in and out
of traditional media and throughout ordinary
life. These are mostly free conversations
that anyone can join at any time; they are
conversations without borders in time or
space. As in offline conversations, people can
ask for advice or offer it, swap information
and recommendations, and share jokes;
unlike offline, participants can embed links
to the things they want others to experience.
This facility to share content might have been
custom-created for Prosumers; it gives them
the perfect tools to indulge their inquisitive,
exploratory, opinion-shaping behavior
whenever and wherever they want.
(Euro RSCG Worldwide, New Consumer data, Fall 2009)
Prosumerism
Gender Shift
9
The Future: The Second Decade
of Prosumerism
The spread of Internet usage and social media habits has created
perfect conditions for the next phase of Prosumerism. Now that
much (most?) of “normal” offline life has an online element, and
now that millions of ordinary consumers are regularly online,
there’s scope for different types of behavior to evolve.
As with any other disciplines, our study of
Prosumerism involves developing ever finer
and more useful distinctions; it involves
continually testing and refining our ideas
in the light of fast-evolving conditions and
behaviors. When we started, Internet usage
wasn’t entirely mainstream and social media
was an idea struggling to gain traction. Fastforward 10 years, and one of the standing
jokes is that “your mother’s on Facebook.”
In other words, what was leading-edge
technology just a few years ago is now like
the local mall: It’s used by rebellious teens
hanging out together; by middle-class people
in their 20s, 30s, and 40s keeping up with each
other; and by older people keeping tabs on
the youngsters, bumping into each other, and
finding interesting diversions along the way.
Over the past two years, as more extensive
and intensive online activities have brought
out variations in the way Prosumers express
their attributes, we’ve been able to pick up
on different motivations, which lead to
differences in why and how they exert their
influence. Inspired by qualitative research,
we conducted a statistical segmentation to
understand these specific nuances. Examining
their social media and content-sharing
behavior, we identified and categorized five
types of Prosumers – Utilitarians, Entertainers,
Advocates, Co-Creators, and Competitors –
based on how they share content online and
why they use online and social media.
These five segments share the same
Prosumer core attributes as ever: They are
more influential, more engaged, and more
digitally savvy consumers than the majority
who seek out new brands and experiences.
10
In a new benchmark online survey of France,
the U.K., and the U.S. in the second half
of 2010, we created a comprehensive battery
of questions and statements to map out
the differences among the five Prosumer
types. The survey yielded 1,151 respondents
(575 men and 576 women) spread evenly
across three age brackets (18-29, 30-44, and
45-plus). Americans accounted for 65 percent
of the sample, with 17 percent each from the
U.K. and France. After the online survey, we
also conducted and recorded interviews with
people of each Prosumer type in the three
countries. Highlights from the interviews are
included in the descriptions of the five types
on the following pages.
The table on the opposite page gives a
quick overview of the five Prosumer types,
using data from the three-country sample.
On the following pages, we look at all
five segments in more detail, highlighting
their key characteristics, noting the
differences among countries, and exploring
implications for brands.
“As prosumers are that breed of
experimental animals who love to
try new products and have a view
that they want to share with any
and everyone around them, they
do end up influencing the markets.
What the prosumer thinks today,
the consumer will tomorrow.”
– The Economic Times (India)
The Five Prosumer Types: An Overview
Motivation
Utilitarian
Entertainer
Advocate
Co-Creator
Competitor
Good deals
Fun,
Change
Connect
Raise
pleasure
the world
status
Proportion of Prosumers
12%
29%
19%
19%
21%
Gender Balance
Female
Balanced/
Balanced
Balanced/
Male
female
Age (Young/Middle/Older)
Older
Young
male
Middle/
Young
older
Middle/
older
Rural/
Small town/
Suburbs/
City/
Suburbs/
small town
suburbs
city
suburbs
city
Technology Usage vs. Index*
Low
Below index
High
Average
Above
Relatively Most-Used Technology**
eBay
MySpace,
LinkedIn,
Android
Pandora,
Digg,
iPad,
Netflix
Kindle
Mac
Location
average
*Average percentage of all five groups iPhone,
**Of the technologies and services used by the Prosumer segment concerned
“Who’s the prosumer?
She’s
someone who can bring new meaning to the phrase
‘shop talk.’ Shop
talk as in buzzing
about the latest thing – particularly as regards
boutiques, stores, foods and restaurants.”
– Women’s Wear Daily
Prosumerism
11
12
1. Utilitarians
In surveys, we identify Utilitarian Prosumers by their relatively
higher levels of agreement with key statements that are about
supporting their small-scale, pragmatic objectives. What interests
Utilitarians in particular is getting things done efficiently
and effectively, which means at a reasonable cost. Pragmatic
Utilitarians are knowledgeable and act as information hubs; for
certain types of practical information, they’re mavens.
“I share online content that I find useful and
informative” is one of the key statements for
identifying Utilitarians. This covers a huge
potential range of information, from practical
cooking, DIY, and gardening tips through car
maintenance, IT problem fixes, and dietary
and health advice. Current juggernaut Groupon
would probably be a big winner with this
group. What excites Utilitarians enough to share
with others are things (not ideas or concepts)
that have concrete, practical applications.
Flowing from Utilitarians’ distinctive
motivations is another key statement that
identifies them: “I use social media to inform
my purchase decisions and find great deals.”
Utilitarians
All Five Types Utilitarians
Utilitarians vs. All
Overall proportion in three countries
100%
11.7%
Smallest of the five types
As proportion of USA
100%
9.7%
As proportion of France
100%
18.5%
Middle of the five types
As proportion of U.K.
100%
12.5%
Second-smallest of the five types
Men
50%
43.7%
Fewer men
Women
50%
56.3%
More women
Mean age
38.2 years
47.1 years
Older profile
Share of below-median income
NA
14.5%
Higher percentage on lower income
Share of above-median income
NA
10.2%
Lower percentage on higher income
Rural
13.7%
45.2%
Three times more rural
Small town
26.4%
43%
More than 1.5 times more small town
Technology usage* vs. Index**
100
62
Lower usage frequency
Windows Mobile
16.8%
18.5%
Index 110 (more usage)
eBay
31.5%
33.3%
Index 106 (slightly more usage)
PC
90.6%
92.6%
* Usage once a week or more of 37 listed technologies
** Total group is 100
Distinctive technologies***
*** Technologies in the list used more by this group than by others
Prosumerism
13
They regard social media as a tool that helps
them achieve specific ends; social media
gives them tangible benefits in terms of the
amount of time, money, and effort they spend
on understanding what they need to do,
identifying the best way of doing it, and finding
where to get what they want at the best price.
Utilitarians aren’t interested in fancying
things up; quite the reverse. Some of them
might identify with the desire to find “simple,
clear, elegant solutions,” but most would
be more likely to say things such as “Keep it
simple,” “Why complicate life?” “Life’s too
short,” and “Cut to the chase.” The statement
that captures this distinctively Utilitarian
perceptive in our algorithm is: “In the future,
I will use social media more and more to
simplify my life.”
The desire for practicality and simple
solutions is shown by Utilitarians’ relatively
restrained use of the latest technology
and services. Compared with other Prosumer
types, they use virtually all the 37 listed
brands less frequently than other
Prosumers do. The one that scores the
highest usage frequency among Utilitarians
is eBay – the online auction that’s ideal for
getting great deals.
Distinctively Utilitarian attitudes show clearly in our personal interviews with them about the
Internet and social media. Their top priority is getting good deals and keeping costs down:
“Social media changes the way people do business by cutting out virtually
all the intermediaries.”
– France, male, 45+
“It’s wonderful for hunting for the best deals! I love comparing prices, products, going on forums.”
– U.S., male, 45+
“It’s so exciting when you get the best deals! You feel excited because you got a deal
that most of the people have not been able to get and of course because you can save money, you can spend somewhere else.”
– U.S., female, 30-44
Utilitarians’ attitudes toward brands and business online are totally consistent with their
motivation to find good deals and save money, time, and effort:
“When we have a problem or a question, we should be able to contact the brand in social media, saying, ‘Hey, this is my problem, my situation; what can you do for me?’”
– U.S., male, 45+
“Brands should be on the Internet because it’s a good way to keep in touch and because
they can propose contests, special deals, or coupons, and it’s nice!” – U.S., female, 30-44
14
What Utilitarians Mean for Brands
Utilitarians are the natural allies and
champions of brands who offer great deals.
These are the Prosumers who will seek out
deals and feel thrilled about them. Being
Prosumers, they naturally tend to tell their
friends and acquaintances, especially when
others ask them for advice. They pride themselves on knowing what’s good value, where
to find it, and how to get it. On the other
hand, compared with some other Prosumer
types, they are not particularly motivated to
show off; they don’t particularly need to feel
they’re at the cutting edge or to be feted by
others as the best dealfinder in town.
Utilitarians are by no means the poorest
of the Prosumer groups, but their income
overall skews below the median line. They
appreciate the value of a dollar – or a euro or
a pound – and they appreciate brands that
help them make the best of their money as
simply as possible.
In any social network or on websites,
Utilitarians are the most likely to respond to
“recommend a friend,” “bring along a buddy,”
and similar referral incentives. On review
sites, Utilitarians might be enthusiastic
enough to write glowing testimonials without
any encouragement, but brands can nudge
them to share their thoughts by offering
them tangible rewards and incentives such as
redeemable vouchers.
The flip side of Utilitarians’ love of a great
deal is their response if they feel ripped off,
shortchanged, or otherwise deprived of value
in a brand transaction. If they don’t get their
gripes addressed fully and quickly, they
won’t have the satisfaction of a great deal;
instead, they’re likely to take pleasure in
spreading news of their bad experience to
anyone who will listen.
Prosumerism
15
16
2. Entertainers
We identify Entertainer Prosumers by their relatively higher
levels of agreement with key statements that are about fun
and pleasure. What interests them in particular is enjoyment:
enjoying themselves and spreading enjoyment to others.
Entertainers are the type most likely to know where to find
jokes and the latest funny clips; they’re the ones to ask who the
hot new talents in music and movies are.
“I share online content that I find
entertaining and humorous” is one of the
key statements for identifying Entertainers.
They’re keen to share anything that makes
them chuckle (LOL!) or guffaw (ROFLMAO!).
In the old days of the Internet (i.e., 10 years
ago), they were the types most likely to be
sending around joke e-mails. Now they’re
the ones most likely to know who Justin,
Greyson, and Antoine are. They’re also most
likely to be posting links to funny clips on
YouTube, a service that has proved to be
perfect for Entertainer Prosumers both as
creators and as propagators. Of the five
groups, Entertainers are the second-most
likely to create online content –
50.7 percent say they do, surpassed only
by Advocates (65 percent).
Entertainers
All Five Types Entertainers
Entertainers vs. All
100%
29.3%
Largest of the five types
100%
31.7%
100%
25%
Second-largest of the five types
100%
24.5%
Men
50%
47.8%
Slightly fewer men
Women
50%
52.2%
Slightly more women
Mean age
38.2 years
33.9 years
Younger profile
NA
43.6%
Higher percentage on lower income
NA
18.7%
Lower percentage on higher income
Rural
13.7%
22%
One and a half times more rural
Small town
26.4%
39.2%
One and a half times more small town
100
86
Lower usage frequency
Netflix
25.1%
27.9%
Index 111 (more usage)
MySpace
25.8%
26.7%
Pandora
20.4%
20.8%
Prosumerism
17
Another key statement for identifying
Entertainers is “I use social media to relax
and unwind.” In traditional media terms, this
typically involved channel surfing the TV or
listening to music. With social media, it means
seeking a certain mellow emotional state
that can be enhanced in a variety of ways:
consuming professionally created content
(movies, TV shows, music), consuming
content created by peers, or getting into
banter or conversations with friends.
Thinking ahead, Entertainers are
distinguished by their higher levels of
agreement that “In the future, I will use
social media more and more as a pastime.”
As with relaxing and unwinding, this is not a
highly focused approach to social media; it’s
not about using SoMe to achieve anything
intensely purposeful. It’s about having fun
without too much effort.
Compared with other Prosumer groups,
Entertainers aren’t big on using technology
intensively. Their overall frequency of usage
is lower than all except Utilitarians. The
brands they use distinctively more than
many other Prosumers are Netflix, MySpace,
and Pandora; as might be expected, these
are services that give online access to the
entertainment of movies and music.
Entertainers’ motivations are less clear-cut than those of Utilitarians (good deals),
Advocates (good causes), and Competitors (enhanced status). Consequently, in our personal
interviews about the Internet and social media, Entertainers tended to be less sharply
articulated in their attitudes.
“Social media is good entertainment.”
– U.K., male, 40+
“Some commercials can be quite hilarious, especially because some TV shows
are rubbish anyway!”
– U.K., male, 40+
Entertainers are looking for fun and pleasure in life, and the brands they like online are those
that meet their expectations, or at least contribute to them.
“Brands cover advertisement, and that’s what keeps social networking pretty much free. They play a great role.”
– U.S., male, 45+
18
What Entertainers Mean for Brands
Some brands are all about fun and
entertainment (e.g., Disney, EA, Comedy
Central, beer brands), but most aren’t. For
the majority of brands that aren’t intrinsically
entertaining, their marketing has to find ways
to catch the imagination of consumers in
general and Entertainers in particular.
employees violating a host of public health
codes, for instance, proved to have a
compelling gross-out factor, as it spread like
wildfire across the Internet. In an environment
where thousands upon thousands yearn for
celebrity, this sort of prank is going to be a
surefire source of fun for Entertainers – and a
constant risk for brands.
The payoff for brands that catch the
imagination of Entertainers is potentially
huge; they are one of the biggest Prosumer
groups, so they have the critical mass to
act as amplifiers to each other and to the
wider world of consumers. That wider
world might not be interested in what
Advocates or Utilitarians are sharing, but
most people enjoy entertainment of some
sort, so Entertainers have potentially huge
audiences. Unlike Advocates, who tend to
be verbal, Entertainers are more apt to use
the full range of possibilities opened up by
interactive and social technologies: words,
pictures, moving images, graphics, sounds.
This gives brands huge scope to create
materials that Entertainers will enjoy and
want to share as widely as possible.
Evian’s “Rollerbabies” TV commercial
(created by BETC Euro RSCG) is a great
example of a classic must-see ad that works
as well on the Internet as on TV. Nissan took a
more subversive approach with its campaign
for the crossover Qashqai. The shot-forInternet “Car Games” showed people doing
crazy, impossible stunts with the car in ways
that would never be allowed on TV – perfect
to catch the imagination of Entertainers for
viral distribution on the Internet.
One risk with Entertainers, as with consumers
through the decades, is that they will lap up
the fun and pass it on but ignore the brand.
The challenge for brands is to create content
that is both entertaining and strongly branded.
Another risk is that Entertainers will be happy
to share materials that make fun of brands
or show them in a bad light. Entertainers’ main
motivation is to seek and share fun; unless
they are loyal to a brand, they are as likely to
share negative content as to share positive,
as long as it’s entertaining. The now notorious
2009 amateur video of Domino’s Pizza
Prosumerism
19
20
3. Advocates
Advocates are the most serious-minded of Prosumers. One of
the statements identifying them is “I share online content that
is issues-oriented (socioeconomic, environmental, political).”
They have a strong sense of what’s right and what’s wrong,
and they feel impelled to do something about it. And thanks to
social media, they can share online content widely and create
connections between different issues. They are the Prosumers
most confident in handling lots of complicated information;
more than four-fifths of them (81.8 percent) agree that “I easily
handle ambiguous and uncertain situations.” They are also
the group with the highest percentage of people who enjoy
creating content online just as much as they enjoy consuming
it (69.2 percent).
A major driver of Advocates is to change
the world. Accordingly, one of the statements
to identify them in our surveys is “I use
social media to change the world for the
better.” Having a bigger purpose than
satisfying immediate needs (e.g., fun or
getting good deals), they tend to be more
vigorous in all their actions; they have the
highest percentages responding positively
to statements such as “I like to experiment
Advocates
All Five Types Advocates
Advocates vs. All
100%
18.6%
100%
15.2%
100%
16%
100%
34%
Men
50%
51.4%
Slightly more men
Women
50%
48.6%
Slightly fewer women
Mean age
38.2 years
41.5 years
Slightly older profile
NA
7.8%
Lower percentage on lower income
NA
29.4%
Higher percentage on higher income
Suburb
32.1%
44.9%
One-third more suburban
City
27.7%
27%
Equally urban
100
131
Higher usage frequency
LinkedIn
15%
25.2%
Index 168 (much more usage)
Amazon
32.6%
46.3%
BlackBerry
24.1%
35.5%
Posterous
5.6%
8.4%
Prosumerism
21
with new and different ways to solve problems”
(91.6 percent vs. 87.7 percent for all five
groups) and “I believe that creativity and
imagination are keys to success” (93.5 percent
vs. 89.2 percent for all five groups).
Thinking ahead, Advocates are closest in
their aims to marketing and PR professionals.
They regard social media as a means to spread
key ideas and messages, as shown by their
high levels of agreement with the statement
“In the future, I will use social media more
and more to promote worthy causes.” They’re
not afraid to speak out, and they understand
the value of social networks for spreading
important messages. Of the five Prosumer
groups, Advocates are the most networked;
they return the highest proportion of
agreement with the statement “I enjoy having
a wide circle of acquaintances” (87.4 percent
agree vs. 79 percent of the total sample).
Advocates are the most frequent users of
many of the 37 technology brands listed in
our survey; they over-index on most of them.
The social networking tool that puts them
way above index is LinkedIn, a serious and
purposeful platform that attracts educated
professionals. The professional/serious
impression is further confirmed by Advocates’
over-index usage of BlackBerry, the most
corporate of smart phones. It’s a similar story
with Amazon, which indicates an appetite for
books (not forgetting that Amazon sells a lot
of categories besides books). Advocates also
over-index on blogging platform Posterous,
as well as other blogging platforms such as
Blogspot (index score: 135) and WordPress
(147) and content-sharing platform Tumblr
(147). Advocates are also the Prosumer type
with the highest use of Twitter (132), iPad
(142), Amazon’s Kindle e-reader (151), and
Barnes & Noble’s e-reader Nook (133).
Advocates tend to be the most verbally articulate of the five Prosumer groups. They think
things through, often at great length and in great depth. In our interviews with them, they had
plenty to say; both the volume of their comments, and the content, clearly illustrate distinctive
Advocate attributes. They get fired up by big causes and by the champions of causes; they’re keen
to convince others to be motivated by them, too.
“OK, Facebook is big, but it’s like McDonald’s: junk foods. Whereas what Assange is doing is really important.”
– U.K., male, 30-44
“I often finding myself speaking up for brands that I like, such as designers and labels. It’s
shameful, but I’ve even found myself defending Nestlé against Greenpeace.”
– France, female, 45+
– U.S., female, 18-29
“I try to convince friends by giving facts.”
As well as supporting causes and championing their champions, Advocates are also motivated
to connect and interact with other people. With the reach of the Internet, these can be people
whom they have met face-to-face or people they’ve met only online.
“In a world without Internet, I would miss most the fact that it is so easy to have
conversation with people.”
– U.K., male, 30-44
“Facebook has really enabled me to meet real people, to stay in touch, to learn about jobs, different realities. I’ve spoken with a miner who works in a nickel mine in Canada, I know a guy who’s a freelance acoustic bass player in some back-end part of New York where he has to clear the snow off his bass every morning to go and do his extras.”
22
“SoMe helps me to keep contact with my friends. I’m living in New York, but I was born in
Philly and I studied in Boston, so I’ve got friends all around the place.”
– U.S., female, 18-29
Advocates tend to see life and the world in terms of big issues playing out among competing
interests. In this context, brands are powerful agents that have the potential to affect the
issues more than most.
“I don’t think brands are on the Web to tell a story; I think they must be there to be useful.”
– U.S., female, 18-29
“I expect brands online to be more helpful.”
What Advocates Mean for Brands
Advocates are a key Prosumer group for
brands. They are vigorous, driven, and have
money; in the three countries in the Euro RSCG
study, Advocates account for 18.6 percent
of the sample but comprise 29.4 percent of
those with above-median income.
Other groups make relatively easy demands
of brands: Offer me good deals, entertain
me, help me connect, make me look good.
Advocates make much bigger demands. They
want brands to be good corporate citizens
and help make the world a better place.
Although Advocates are one of the smaller
Prosumer groups (except in the U.K.), they
make up for their lack of numbers with vigor
and commitment. Their pulse will quicken to
the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful, committed
people can change the world. Indeed, it is
the only thing that ever has.” The Internet
and social media give them the tools to do
just that; sure enough, of the five Prosumer
groups, Advocates show the most frequent
use of most of the 37 technologies listed.
Advocates are also the type most likely to
feel a personal engagement with a brand,
whether positive or negative. If a brand is
doing things Advocates approve of, such
as supporting fair trade or reforestation or
community projects, or providing outstanding
products or services, then Advocates will
make it their personal mission to reward the
brand by spreading the word. Their sense
of fairness demands that they reward and
encourage brands that make the effort to
do the right thing. By the same token, their
sense of fairness demands that they name,
shame, and punish brands that don’t do the
right thing as they see it.
With Advocates constantly on the lookout,
brands need to be on their best CSR behavior
– or else be ready and willing to withstand a
concerted campaign of activism. In a world
of radical transparency, whistleblowers, and
electronic leaks, any embarrassing news is
likely to make its way into cyberspace; if
it reveals misdeeds, it will be picked up by
Advocates and amplified.
The good news is that, on balance,
Advocates are fair-minded and mature; they
know that life and business are complex,
they know that nobody’s perfect and even the
most benevolent people and organizations
might have a darker side. Brands should
harness the feedback from Advocates (who
will find the weaknesses and gaps) to look
hard at themselves and fix what needs fixing
from the perspective of interested outsiders.
As essentially positive people, Advocates
are keen to support brands and products
that can make the world a better place.
Initiatives such as Euro RSCG’s One Young
World are just the sort of thing to fire up
Advocates’ enthusiasm.
Prosumerism
23
24
4. Co-Creators
The Internet is essentially a liberating medium for Co-Creator
Prosumers. In the offline world of face-to-face interactions,
they’re often introverted and shy, but online they can express
and develop a more expansive side. Far more of them agree
that “I would rather spend a quiet evening at home than go
out” (60.5 percent vs. 53.5 percent of the total sample). They’re
more inclined than other types of Prosumer to agree with this:
“I prefer conversations with small groups of friends to large
parties” (73.1 percent vs. 70.5 percent of the total sample). Far
more agree with the statement “I’m somewhat reserved and
like to keep to myself ” (50.7 percent vs. 44.3 percent).
We identify Co-Creators partly by their high
level of agreement with the statement “I
use social media to convey my thoughts and
opinions.” They’re by no means the only
people who use social media to have their
say, but for Co-Creators this is a particularly
important function. Social media enables
Co-Creators to connect with the wider world
on their own terms. Another key statement
for identifying Co-Creators is “In the
future, I will use social media more and
more to express myself.”
Co-Creators
All Five Types Co-Creators
Co-Creators vs. All
100%
19.4%
100%
25.3%
100%
6.5%
100%
10%
Men
50%
52%
Slightly more men
Women
50%
48%
Slightly fewer women
Mean age
38.2 years
34 years
Slightly younger profile
NA
32.2%
High percentage on lower income
NA
9.1%
Low percentage on higher income
City
27.7%
62.8%
More than twice more city
100
101
Average usage frequency
Netflix
25.1%
30.9%
Pandora
20.4%
25.1%
StumbleUpon
10.8%
13.5%
Posterous
5.6%
7.2%
Prosumerism
25
Within the overall context of Prosumers,
Co-Creators are average savvy with technology.
They’re certainly not the geekiest of Prosumers
– not at all the archetypical reclusive code
cutters surviving on pizza and soda. Against
the overall index of Prosumers in the survey
(index for the total group = 100), they’re
average frequent users of Facebook, YouTube,
iTunes, Mac, PC,and MySpace. They’re less
frequent users of transactional sites such as
Amazon and eBay. Among the self-publishing
platforms, they’re below index on Twitter
and WordPress usage but show above-index
usage of Tumblr, Blogspot, and Posterous.
Co-Creators index above-average usage of
created-content technologies such as Netflix,
Hulu, and StumbleUpon.
Distinctive Co-Creator attitudes come through clearly in our personal interviews about the
Internet and social media.
“Social media allows me to express my joy, what I’m sad about, and express any emotions using different outlets such as text, video, and pictures.”
“Because I constantly post video clips online, I will always be in people’s minds for potential jobs in the future.”
– U.S., female, 30-44
– U.S., male, 30-44
“Social media is a window onto loads of things, onto the lives of other people, onto your own life, a window that you open or close, with drapes that are sometimes drawn, with a load of interactions and people milling around.”
– France, female, 18-29
“Social media are a way of valuing what I can become and what I can teach others. If
you did a timeline of everything that I’ve posted, it would connect up a huge number of very different people.”
Co-Creators’ attitudes toward brands online reflect their thinking about themselves – having a
need to be out there and be seen, and to engage in mutually beneficial activities.
– U.S., female, 30-44
– U.S., male, 30-44
26
“If I was on the Internet and I didn’t see any commercials, I’d be very surprised. I think [brands] do have a place and the right to promote their products or…services.”
“Brands need to be out there and be sometimes viral.”
“I expect a brand to support me in my creative process. I’m thinking in terms of customization and personalization of existing products.”
What Co-Creators Mean for Brands
In the overall context of Prosumers, Co-Creators
are relatively less driven and less assertive.
They have the desire to express themselves
more fully and more widely but not (as
with Competitors) to establish their leading
status; rather, it’s to make connections
(through social media or otherwise), to get
a clearer sense of themselves, and to allow
creative impulses to flourish.
Brands can earn the support of Co-Creators
by connecting with them personally and
by helping them connect with others. This
is relatively easy for social media brands,
which exist to do precisely that. Brands that
provide other sorts of services, or that make
products, need to take a more roundabout
approach to win over Co-Creators. Providing
the means for them to express themselves
by personalizing and customizing products
is half the job and is increasingly standard
practice across product categories; “build
your own [fill in the blank]” online is the
norm for cars, many technology products,
kitchenware, and apparel. The challenge is
to enable Co-Creators to use such processes
as a stepping-stone to connect and express
themselves more widely.
In terms of influence, both positive and
negative, Co-Creators probably offer the
least leverage of the five Prosumer groups.
Because they are not as driven or demanding
as the other four groups, they are less
motivated to spread good or bad words about
brands. Their income profile leans much more
to the below-median end of the scale, and
their peer group is therefore less likely to
include big spenders.
Prosumerism
27
28
5. Competitors
Of the five types of Prosumers, Competitors are the most egocentric. Utilitarians are motivated by getting good deals and
getting things done, Entertainers are motivated by fun, and
Advocates are fired up by causes and ideals. Although CoCreators are interested in putting themselves out there, they
don’t have the sheer oomph of Competitors, who are motivated
by asserting themselves. Compared with the total Prosumer
sample, far fewer Competitors (43 percent vs. 53.5 percent)
agree with the statement “I would rather spend a quiet evening
at home than go out.” Competitors tend to have a greater sense of
their own authority; they return the lowest level of agreement
with the statement “I prefer to follow established rules and
guidelines” (47.5 percent vs. 54.6 percent for the total sample).
One of the statements used to identify
Competitors is “I’m the first to share the
latest, most up-to-date online content.”
The desire to be first is the quintessence of
competitive drive in any field, be it politics,
sports, or business. Social media provides
Competitors with a way to be ahead of the
pack in terms of the material they share and
their mastery of the medium.
Competitors
All Five Types Competitors
Competitors vs. All
100%
21%
100%
18.1%
100%
34%
100%
19%
Men
50%
53.3%
More men
Women
50%
46.7%
Fewer women
Mean age
38.2 years
38 years
Middle age profile
NA
1.9%
Tiny percentage on lower income
NA
32.7%
Big percentage on higher income
Suburb
32.1%
38.8%
One-quarter more suburban
City
27.7%
36%
One-third more city
100
113
Above average usage frequency
iPhone
24.1%
32.6%
Mac
16.2%
22.7%
LinkedIn
15%
23.1%
iPad
12.2%
15.3%
Prosumerism
29
Another statement that identifies Competitors
is their high level of agreement that “I use
social media to discover and share new
trends.” Competitors want to be ahead of
the crowd and acknowledged as such. A
key motivator for them to forward content
is that they want to enhance their status
and be recognized as trendy; building and
maintaining status is important for them.
The third statement that singles out
Competitors is their higher response to
“In the future, I will use social media more
and more to stay on the cutting edge.” The
impulse here is clearly to use social media as
a tool for personal advantage. Competitors
are found in many different demographic
and social groups: fashionistas, sports fans,
professionals, hobbyists. In whatever peer
group they relate to, they’re opinionated and
cutting edge.
Competitors use the 37 listed technologies
more often than the average for all Prosumers
in the survey; only Advocates use more
technologies more often. Distinctively,
Competitor technologies are Apple hardware
(iPhone, Mac, and iPad) that offer not only
functionality but also standout status; they
are higher-status products and command a
“coolness” premium. Competitors also index
high on Twitter usage (117), second only to
Advocates (132); similarly, they are second
to Advocates on Blogspot (122 vs. 135),
Foursquare (116 vs. 137), and Yelp (134 vs. 151).
In our personal interviews, it was clear that Competitors tend to put themselves front and center.
“If I could only keep one website, it would be my blog.”
“Social media can be a tool for social success by enabling you to confirm what are the valuable aspects of your personality and gradually filtering out the bad ways you may have of presenting yourself.”
“The Internet has enabled me to show people that I’m inquisitive and that I’m a real self-
taught person…. I like posting things on FB such as songs because I know I have friends that like my musical tastes and are waiting for me to post new things.”
“I use LinkedIn in order to keep in touch with professional relations or to introduce myself to companies and to get job interviews.”
– U.K., male, 30-44
Similarly, when thinking about brands on the Internet, Competitors tend to have a distinctively
self-referential perspective, either explicit or implied.
“A brand is on the Web not so that I can make use of it, but rather so that it can make use of me.… A brand uses social media to connect with people more individually.”
– U.K., male, 30-44
30
“I think brands are on social media to get better known.”
“Brands should be on the Internet to create customer loyalty.”
What Competitors Mean for Brands
Unlike Advocates, Competitors aren’t much
interested in what a brand might do for the
world; they’re much more interested in what
a brand can do for them and their desire
to stand out above the crowd. Competitors
accept that everybody is in the game for
their own gain, so they don’t expect favors
or freebies from brands (unlike Utilitarians,
Entertainers, or Co-Creators), nor do they
expect brands to behave altruistically
(unlike Advocates). They expect brands to
compete with each other, just as Competitors
themselves do, and they take particular
notice of brands that compete successfully.
The status game that Competitors play has
been familiar to brands for many decades.
What has changed is that there are now
many more product and service categories
than ever before, and there are more
dimensions of status. An opportunity for all
brands – even those that have no obvious
status proposition – is to figure out how they
might offer a distinctive status that presents
Competitors with a new way of getting ahead
of the crowd.
Competitors have the highest income profile
of the five Prosumer groups, no doubt thanks
in part to their competitive instincts. They
play a more subtle game, however, than
simply buying the most premium version of
everything. They are motivated by status,
but not necessarily by the status of money; it
might be the status of being smarter or more
adventurous or more up-to-date or more
discerning. There are many ways to compete.
In cars, for example, they might express their
status by buying an established premium
brand (e.g., BMW). Or they might buy a less
obvious brand whose virtues are known to
a more select few. Whatever the product
area, be it technology, automotive, apparel,
appliances, finance, or vacations, there’s
always scope for Competitors to spot a game
in which they can prove or raise their status.
Competitors spread the word about brands,
especially over social media, when doing so
is aligned with their motivation to raise their
status. Part of the success of Apple’s crop of
products over the past few years has been
its ability to satisfy a number of Competitor
needs. Apple’s products are generally priced
higher than others offering comparable
functionality, hence premium status; they are
universally applauded for their attention to
design, hence aesthetic status; their software
is widely acknowledged as more stable and
robust than the main competition, hence
smart status; Apple has established a track
record of launching game-changing new
products such as the iPad, hence ahead-ofthe-curve status. No wonder the Competitors
in our survey over-index on Apple products.
Prosumerism
31
Who Rules Each Country?
Entertainers predominate in the U.S.
The biggest Prosumer type in the United
States is Entertainers; these extroverts
account for almost a third of American
Prosumers in the sample (31.7 percent). The
next biggest group is Co-Creators; these
more introverted types make up 25.3 percent
of the sample. Around one fifth of American
Prosumers (18.1 percent) are Competitors,
15.2 percent are Advocates, and just
9.7 percent are Utilitarians.
Who Rules Each Country
Utilitarian
Entertainer
Advocate
Co-Creator
Competitor
Competitors characterize France.
Competitors constitute the biggest Prosumer
type by far in France, with 34.0 percent. As in
the U.S., Entertainers are a big group, with
25 percent of Prosumers in France. Utilitarians
are slightly more numerous than Advocates
(18.5 percent vs. 16 percent), and Co-Creators
are a small group, with just 6.5 percent.
0%
U.S.
10%
France
20%
30%
U.K.
Advocates stand out in the U.K.
This type accounts for just over one-third
of U.K. Prosumers (34 percent). As in
France, Entertainers are the second-largest
Prosumer group (24.5 percent), followed by
Competitors (19 percent). Utilitarians are
just 12.5 percent, and Co-Creators are the
smallest group, with 10 percent.
prosumers
are ‘proactive, infuential,
information-empowered’
consumers who are of importance to marketers
“According to Euro RSCG,
because their attitudes and behaviours have a
strong influence on the product and brand choices of
people around them.”
– Economist Intelligence Unit
32
40%
Playing to Type
Influential and intellectual Advocates.
Pragmatic and analytical Utilitarians.
To qualify as Prosumers, respondents have
to score high agreement on the statement “I
am often consulted by my peers for counsel
and recommendation on a range of topics.”
Of the five Prosumer types, Advocates score
the highest on this (90.2 percent), ahead of
Competitors (88 percent). Advocates are the
most likely to agree that they work hard to
convince others to try or do new things
(75.2 percent vs. 68 percent overall average),
and they also lead in their agreement that
they are confident of their ability to influence
the world around them (78.5 percent vs.
73 percent overall average). High proportions
of all five groups agree that they enjoy
taking part in intellectual discussions,
but agreement is significantly higher
among Advocates (93 percent) than among
Utilitarians (83 percent).
In all five Prosumer groups, more than
80 percent agree that “I analyze the pros
and cons of each decision I make.” The
strongest agreement on this point, however,
is from Utilitarians, with 89.6 percent
agreeing; this is a significantly higher
proportion than among Advocates, Co-Creators,
and Competitors (all just under 83 percent)
and among Entertainers (80.1 percent).
Utilitarians are also most likely to agree that
“I am practical-minded and realistic,” with
91.9 percent; Entertainers are the least likely
to agree, albeit with a high 84.6 percent.
Playing to Type
U.S.
Big-hearted Co-Creators.
Tending to sympathize with other people
is most common among Co-Creators
(91.5 percent) and least common among
Advocates (although their 84.1 percent is
a high level of agreement, too).
Emotional Entertainers
and Co-Creators.
France
U.K.
0%
10%
20%
Utilitarian
Entertainer
Co-Creator
Competitor
30%
40%
Entertainers seek fun, so it’s not surprising
that they are the most inclined to agree that
“My actions are frequently influenced by
emotions.” Co-Creators, too, seek a certain
feeling. Both groups share the highest
agreement with the statement (61.1 percent
and 61 percent, respectively).
Advocate
Prosumerism
33
The Prosumer Reports are a series of thought leadership
publications by Euro RSCG Worldwide – part of a global
initiative to share information and insights, including our
own proprietary research, across the Euro RSCG network
of agencies and client companies.
Euro RSCG Worldwide is a leading integrated marketing
communications agency and was the first agency to be
named Global Agency of the Year by both Advertising Age
and Campaign in the same year. Euro RSCG is made up
of 233 offices in 75 countries and provides advertising,
marketing, corporate communications, and digital and
social media solutions to clients, including, Air France,
BNP Paribas, Charles Schwab, Citigroup, Danone Group,
Heineken USA, IBM, Jaguar, Kraft Foods, Lacoste, L’Oréal,
Merck, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Pernod Ricard, Reckitt
Benckiser, sanofi-aventis, and Volvo. Headquartered in
New York, Euro RSCG Worldwide is the largest unit of
Havas, a world leader in communications (Euronext Paris
SA: HAV.PA).
For more information about the Prosumer Reports,
please visit www.prosumer-report.com
or contact Naomi Troni, global chief marketing officer at
[email protected].
Follow us on Twitter @prosumer_report

The Second Decade of Prosumerism

Transcription

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