Fast Facts about Advocacy

At Weber Shandwick, we understand the critical role that Advocacy plays in influencing people’s opinions and actions.  To begin exploring the New Wave of Advocacy™, we conducted a survey among global consumers with KRC Research. Among the landmark findings are:

1. Global consumers are quicker to take action on issues and causes, buy products/services, and express dissatisfaction than ever before.

• About six in 10 (63 percent) global consumers have sped up their decision-making from a few years ago.
• It takes global consumers longer to make decisions about major purchases (37 days on average) than other actions. Deciding to support issues/causes and expressing dissatisfaction with brands/products takes the least amount of time (17 days and 16 days, respectively).
• About two-thirds (67 percent) of Europeans have sped up their decision-making in the past few years, a faster rate of change than other global consumers. It also takes Europeans less time than their regional counterparts to make decisions about issues/causes and major purchases. U.S. consumers have the slowest speed-to-decision rate vs. a few years ago and generally take the most amount of time to take action of any kind.

2. The democratization of Advocacy is underway with nearly one out of two global consumers (45 percent) being identified as an Advocate. Europe and Asia Pacific have more Advocates than the U.S. does and their consumers have a wider reach of influence. Three types of Advocates emerged from the research.

• High Intensity Advocates (9 percent of global consumers) engage in demonstrative activities such as organizing protests or writing blogs in support of causes, issues, brands or products. This select group also has a wide reach of influence when advocating „ÿ contacting 110 people on average. Asia Pacific has more High Intensity Advocates than other regions (11 percent).
• Low Intensity Advocates (36 percent of global consumers) actively support or detract from issues, causes, brands or products but not as zealously as their High Intensity counterparts. For example, Low Intensity Advocates write letters to organizations or newspaper editors, solicit support for causes or send product information to others. They reach 38 people on average.
• Badvocates are High Intensity or Low Intensity Advocates whose actions detract from brands or products.

3. While traditional media has the greatest influence on attitudes and behavior towards issues, causes, brands and products, the Internet plays a critical role among Advocates.

• Broadcast and print have the greatest influence on opinions and actions among global consumers overall.
• Advocates, particularly High Intensity Advocates, are more likely than Non-Advocates to report that the Web influences their opinions.
• European and Asia Pacific respondents are more likely to be influenced by broadcast, print and the Web than U.S. respondents.

4. A positive personal experience or connection is critical in triggering Advocacy.

• Recommendations from friends, family and coworkers drive nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of global Advocates to support issues and causes, by far the most powerful motivator. Charities and environmental organizations have a greater effect on Europeans’ support of issues and causes than other global consumers. Asia Pacific consumers are more affected by celebrities.
• Most global Advocates (87 percent) recommend brands/products based on their personal experience. Europeans are more motivated to recommend brands or products based on value for the money and company contributions to causes than other global consumers, while Asia Pacific consumers are more motivated by reviews from information/news sources and advertising.
  

5. Advocates are younger and live in higher income households than average global respondents.