Weber Shandwick helps you get your message INLINE! 

In a complex world of multiple communication channels, getting your message across to your target audience has become increasingly challenging.  Whether consumers or policy makers, understanding how and where your audience source their information, and for what purpose, is key to effectively engaging with them.  In two pieces of comprehensive proprietary research Weber Shandwick illustrates how your target audiences are sourcing their information and what sources of influence their decision-making.   

Weber Shandwick carried out two pieces of proprietary research: in one we surveyed the channels of influence on more than 4,500 consumers in six major European markets; in the second we carried out interviews with 63 of the newly-elected members of the European Parliament. The details and findings for each survey are below. 

Pan-European Consumer INLINE Report
Weber Shandwick surveyed a representative sample of 4,692 European consumers in six major European markets: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The research focused on examining and plotting the channels and sources of information consumers said were most influential when they were thinking about making a purchasing decision, whether media, online sources or word of mouth. The results found that online advocacy such as user reviews and online recommendations have overtaken word-of-mouth recommendations as the primary source of influence for European consumers (26%). Other key findings include: 

• Young European consumers are more influenced by the traditional media than their older counterparts.
• Over half of European consumers under the age of 35 expressed a desire to interact with brands via social networks.
• Newspapers and magazines are more influential to French and UK consumers than those in other European markets.
• Advertising is cited as having the least influence on Europeans’ purchase decisions.
• Many European consumers do not wholly accept what they read online until they have checked the facts in mainstream, traditional media.

In our full report, available here, you will find the ‘European INLINE consumer profile’ which we have developed from the research results. The report also provides detailed results from each of the markets surveyed, allowing you to compare and contrast consumer influence patterns across markets, something that is particularly important when reaching out to consumers across different cultures.

New MEP INLINE Survey: Attitude towards Information and Communications Tools
In our second piece of unique research we wanted to find out how policymakers on the EU level and in the Brussels arena use the various information tools and channels at their disposal, and for what purpose. We selected as our target group the freshman policymakers that were elected to the European Parliament for the first time in 2009. Of these, we interviewed 63 MEPs, representing eight political groupings and 21 Member States.

Our research revealed that 51% of new MEPs use social media to engage with policy stakeholders to a moderate or great extent and 63% use social media tools when engaging with their constituents. However demonstrating the continued influence of traditional media, a majority of new MEPs (62%) do not believe what they read in online forums and social networking sites until they have checked the facts in the mainstream traditional media.

We compared the influence of social media on the freshman MEPs to other sources of information: 47% said that information from companies or industry associations was either somewhat or very influential, compared to the 69% who find NGOs a somewhat or very influential source of information.

This research has allowed us build an INLINE profile for the 2009 freshman batch of MEPs, indicating the most influential sources affecting their decision-making. Such profiling allows us to evaluate the different weight we need to give each communication channel when engaging with MEPs on your behalf, and represents an invaluable tool in helping you get your message across.