Leading European market research group Ipsos MORI has published a survey on the business of blogs in Europe.

Ipos MORI says that Andy Warhol said in the 1960s everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. He was of course talking about TV. David Weinberger, a famous blogger, brought Andy Warhol's assertion into the 21st Century commenting that blogging means everyone will be famous for 15 people. There has been a lot of hype about blogging in the media. This pan European research study conducted by Ipsos, in conjunction with Hotwire Communications is, they believe, the first of its kind to attempt to identify the business impact of blogging.

The results of the research study demonstrate that blogging and user generated content on the internet is already having an impact on business. More than 25 million adults in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain having changed their minds about a company or its products after reading comments or reviews on a blog. A third (34%) of Europeans say they have not purchased a product after reading comments on the internet from customers or other private individuals. Even more, 52%, they are more likely to buy a product or a service if they read positive comments from other consumers on the internet.

Other key findings from the research include:

• Blogs are now a near second to newspapers as the most trusted information source: A quarter (24%) of Europeans consider blogs a trusted source of information, still behind newspaper articles (30%), but ahead of television advertising (17%) and email marketing (14%).
• High spenders are most trusting of blogs: Of those who spend more than €145 (£100) online every month, the proportion of people who trust blogs rises to 30%.
• France leads European blogging: Across Europe, six out of ten (61%) internet users have heard of blogging, and one in six (17%), have read a blog. France is the most blog-savvy country in Europe, with 90% of respondents familiar with blogs. The British are the least blog-aware, with only 50% having heard the term. In Germany, 55% have heard of blogs, 58% in Italy and 51% in Spain.
• Blogs are now driving purchase decisions: More than half (52%) of Europeans polled said that they were more likely to purchase a product if they had read positive comments from private individuals on the internet.
• They also block purchases: Nearly 40 million Europeans have not bought something after reading comments posted online.

Download the presentation slides pdf, 1.6MB

Topline Results

• The survey was carried out among a representative sample of 2,214 adults aged 15+, all of whom access the internet at home or at work.
• The survey was conducted in five European countries, with 526 interviewed in Great Britain, 440 in France, 485 in Germany, 378 in Italy and 385 in Spain.
• The survey was conducted using Ipsos MORI's Capibus. Data are weighted.
• Interviews were conducted face-to-face, in home, in September 2006.
• An asterisk (*) indicates a percentage of less than 0.5% but greater than zero.
• Where percentages do not add up to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of 'don't know' categories.

Q1 Over the past month, how much have you spent on goods or services that you have either searched for on the internet and bought offline or bought online? This includes paying household bills on line.

"I would like to find out how familiar you are with web logs, blogs or blogging in the internet"

Q2 Which of the following apply to you and your experiences with blogging on the internet?

Q3 On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 is trust totally, and 0 is do not trust at all, how would you rate the trust you have in the following types of information sources when thinking about buying different goods and services?

Q4 I would like you to tell me the extent to which you agree with each of the following statements. For each one I read out I would like you to tell me if you strongly agree, tend to agree, neither agree nor disagree, tend to disagree or strongly disagree.

Q5 Which of the following, if any, apply to you?