New Study Finds Moms Make And Trust In-Person Recommendations More Than Social Media

CHICAGO, Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cracking the word-of-mom code is the Holy Grail for brands marketing to moms today.  But who's more influential – the Facebook mom or the mom chatting up other moms at school drop-off?  According to The Mom Next Door:  How and Why Moms Make Recommendations, a new study released today at the M2Moms conference by The 360PR MomSquad® and Mom It Forward ®, 83% of moms make recommendations about brands in-person, compared to 53% of moms who make recommendations via social media.  The majority of moms (59%) rated in-person recommendations at the top of the scale for trustworthiness, while only 14% of moms rated recommendations via social media as "most trustworthy."

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According to the study, close to three-quarters of moms (71%) make recommendations about brands, products and services to other moms at least monthly, with half of moms (50%) making recommendations about brands daily.  "We call these moms the recommender-moms and it's clear they're looking to connect offline – though social media plays a role, too," explained Laura Tomasetti, CEO at 360PR. "Brands need to get to know the mom recommenders in their sphere and balance online activity with high-touch opportunities to engage these uber-influencers."

Gen Y Paving the Way Online
While the study demonstrates the power of in-person, it also found that online social networks are important microphones for Gen Y moms.  As compared to Gen X moms, Gen Y moms of 0 -3-year-olds are more comfortable relying on recommendations from moms in their online social networks.  They're the heaviest users of newer social platforms, like Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram.

"Social media has an important role to play, especially with younger moms," said Jyl Johnson Pattee, CEO of Mom It Forward. "Fifty-eight percent of moms use social media for more than one hour daily, with Gen Y moms indexing the highest.  Interestingly, Facebook and Twitter are popular across the board – with no generational differences among moms."

The Power of the Mom Next Door
The study amplifies the role of 'the mom next door' in brand marketing today, finding that 93% of moms are influenced by other moms' recommendations.   Moms surveyed said they interact with other moms most often at daycare/school drop-off (58%), at a friend's house (54%) or other off-line get-together, such as meeting for coffee, working out or shopping (48%).  Moms of older kids (9+) indexed higher for at-work conversations with other moms, while moms of younger children (0-3) indexed higher for conversations online.

While special offers continue to be the top motivator of mom recommendations (61%), more than half of moms said they make recommendations because it's fun (54%) and gives them a sense of pride (51%).  Moms said they rely on online reviews, including those by bloggers they read regularly, particularly for bigger purchases.

The full study results will be revealed at the M2Moms conference today and tomorrow in Chicago.  Study highlights are also available online at 360PR.com/momnextdoor.

Study Methodology
The Mom Next Door research by 360PR and Mom It Forward included interviews with more than 1,000 moms via a quantitative web-based survey of 964 U.S. moms of children ages 0-12 conducted in August 2012 by Lindberg International and a series of live events with 95 moms conducted September–October 2012, including in-home events in six regionally diverse markets and one online event. 

The 360PR MomSquad is a national network of influencer-moms who imbue 360PR client campaigns with the latest insights to reaching and engaging today's parents.  The 360PR MomSquad® is a service of 360 Public Relations, a premier consumer-focused, multi-media agency, recognized as Boutique Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report in 2011 and a 2012 PRWeek Agency of the Year Finalist.

Mom It Forward is a social media community and worldwide network dedicated to enhancing the lives of women, their families, and the communities in which they live. By partnering with various brands and organizations, Mom It Forward provides in-the-know information via a weekly #gno event. The #gno parties enable women to share and learn about a topic of interest from expert panelists, effectively creating a unique platform for real-time interaction with hundreds of participants.

SOURCE 360PR MomSquad