Transcript - Murdoch Research Repository

Sleeping with the frenemy?
Bloggers’ attitude towards
PR practitioners across the
digital divide
Catherine Archer
Supervisors: Paul Harrigan, UWA
Simone Pettigrew, Curtin
Why research blogs and bloggers?
•
Blogs and social media are now seen as essential
components of marketing communications campaigns
(Ferguson 2008; Jensen 2011; Sullivan & Krall 2008)
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Social media and blogs are important forms of word
of mouth or ‘word of mouse’ (Scott 2008)
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BUT research in word of mouth marketing within
online communities is still embryonic (Brown,
Broderick and Lee 2007)
Bloggers – new influencers
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The impact of blogging seen as a ‘revolution’.
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Within social media, bloggers are increasingly
important ‘new influencers’ (Gillin 2008; Trammell &
Keshelashvili 2005; Woods 2005).
•
By the end of 2011, NMIncite, a Nielsen/McKinsey
company, tracked over 181 million blogs around the
world, up from 36 million only five years earlier in
2006
(see nmincite.com).
Prosumers
•
•
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Prosumers – producers who are also consumers
(Tofler 1980; Kotler 1986)
Prosumers = bloggers = empowered (Varey & McKie
2010; Pihl & Wahlqvist 2010; Macnamara 2010;
Kerr, Mortimera, Dickinson-Delaporte & Waller 2012)
Sociologists argue prosumers/bloggers not
empowered – an illusion/infectious
rhetoric (Beer & Burrows 2007;
Beer 2008; Cammaerts 2008;
Comor 2010; Chia 2011)
Bloggers are…
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Stakeholders/target publics/influencers?
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Hobbyists? Professionals? Journalists? Mums? Dads?
Public Relations Theory
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PR has been defined as the practice of relationship
management (Bruning 2002; Ledingham 2003)
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Debate over dialoguic communications/two-way
communication v persuasion.
Research call to action…
Macnamara (2010) says further research is
recommended into levels of interactivity, the issue of
control…and ethics in social media use which are shown
to be topical issues, but far from clear or resolved…
“It is also recommended that future research utilise
ethnographic methods and content analysis as well as
surveys or interviews to validate practitioners’ claims
through observation of practices and communication
content.” (Macnamara 2010)
Research questions
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How do bloggers view their relationships with public
relations practitioners?
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Do bloggers seek out relationships with public
relations pracitioners?
Research methodology
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Qualitative, interpretive approach which recognises
the existence of multiple realities (Daymon &
Holloway)
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15 “Mum” Bloggers (ie bloggers who are mothers)
•
Have also done large mixed-method surveys, some
of the results of which I will share with you today.
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In-depth interviews, coding…
Findings
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The uninvite brand
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Ambivalence…
Oxford Dictionary definition
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frenemy
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fren|emyPronunciation: /ˈfrɛnəmi
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Definition of frenemy in English:
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NOUN
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(plural frenemies) informalA person with whom one
is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry.
Some feel patronised…
So my tip to PR people is treat bloggers like they are
keen media representatives then you’re not going to go
too far wrong. But if you treat them like they just won
a prize and that you’re giving them a gift then you are
in for trouble because if you treat them like the
receptionist then the receptionist can have a job over
you pretty soon. So watch out.
Respect? Understanding?
A lot of PR people don't quite grasp it…”do you want
to go to this event?”
I’m like, well can I bring my baby? “oh no”…
I’m like, well I’m a mummy blogger.
Did you read my blog?
It's a lot of the time things aren't relevant, because I've
had a few, because Perth is quite small, we don't get
invites to bloggers events and conferences over in
Sydney and Melbourne and that's where I think the
main influence is.
So the PR companies will contact us to say, "Oh we've
got this gift voucher. Can you go try our restaurant or
can you go to this shop or come to our event" and it's,
"Well I'm in Perth. Do you not read my blog?"
You say you wanna evolution?
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Bloggers’ attitudes to PR practitioners/brand
representatives (and their own motivations) evolve
over time
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Many start as vulnerable consumers
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From eager newbies to…confident collaborators
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Or…just not that into you!
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Blogging to help others/personal growth/connection
Disconnect between PRs and
bloggers
Whereas some PR companies don’t quite grasp that
concept as yet, they’ll say can you come to the toy fair,
I’m like yeah I have to bring four year old and my two
year old, oh no kids allowed, okay I can’t go.
And to some people that’s maybe not an issue, but if
you read my blog, I’ve made a fairly conscious decision
that I will stay at home with my children, and so that
means, and we live in the country so we don’t have you
know, grandparents round the corner.
Not everyone in it for the money
Well you see, I personally haven’t because I haven’t
made any effort whatsoever to go chase that stuff. I
have been one of that small group of personal
parents/bloggers who have not set out to make money
because well, I don’t know. You might be interested in
this little side story: my former life is in advertising so
for me it is a very ironic full circle conundrum.
Brand relationships..
And how it’s not necessary to be, you know, to be
whoring yourself out.. there to absolutely everyone.
But I kept true to what I said and that’s why I don’t
have stacks and stacks of brand relationships …Like I
don’t do one-off giveaways and one-off this that and the
other. I’m interested in long term brand relationships in
brands that I know and brands that I really think reflect
the person that’s reading [my blog].
The dollar becomes more important
(for some)
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So I’ve avoided it but when it comes down to it I
need to put food on the table. An (academic) salary
is just not going to do it for me so I’m starting to
embrace the whole sell out thing. I’m thinking of
doing a XXX buyers’ guide for Christmas.
PRs evolving too?
Yeah, I mean before I joined [an agency] I was doing
quite a few campaigns for them, but I didn’t think that
they had the bloggers best interests at heart, and with
an industry – like blogging is very personal. I think that
they’re sort of changing the way – they’re looking at
how they’re working now.
The survey
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Only women responded to this survey (100%). The
majority of Digital Parents (DP) who responded were
aged between 26 and 45 (89%) and are married
(80%) with children, many with two (younger)
children.
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The majority of respondents strongly agreed or
agreed that bloggers should receive
compensation for mention of brands (81%)
while 16% are neutral and only 3% disagree.
Why work with brands?
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Relevance to their blog (96%) and interest for their
readers (93%) were the cited by the DP bloggers as
the most important for working with brands.
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While advertising and sponsored posts were reported
to be the most common ways of generating money,
58 per cent of bloggers said they did not generate
any money from their blog.
Sponsored content – the disconnect
DP Survey 2012 – Have you accepted payment for sponsored content?
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes
No - I wouldn't want to
No, but I would like to.
Money talks…
DP Survey 2012 - Do you include sponsored posts on your blog/s?
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Weekly
Monthly
Rarely
Never
No, but I would
like to
Influence? They got it!
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The majority of bloggers completely or somewhat
agree they can influence their readers to purchase an
item recommended on their blog (84%) while only
3% somewhat disagree and for 13% it does not
apply to them.
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Most bloggers completely or somewhat agree that
blogs are a better source of information than
mainstream media (92%).
Nuances of blogging
The grey scale of blogging…
The dichotomies of
Personal
professional
Wants to make money
Blogs with purpose
doesn’t want to be paid
blogs with passion
….ARE NOT (necessarily) RELEVANT!
Women at the Crossroads…
• Future research
Questions?