Most Hispanic Women trust Online Buzz more than Ads.

According to an April 2010 Sophia Mind study of Latin woman in the US, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, female social network users differ somewhat in their usage habits but are general avid visitors to social sites and rely on them for purchase decision-making.

In the US, about one-fifth of Hispanic women said they made social network comments about purchase experiences all the time, but respondents were more likely to speak up only when they had a good experience.

Despite marketers’ worries about negative buzz, 24% of US respondents let their friends and connections know when an experience was positive, compared with just 11% who only complained.

At the same time, bad comments were more likely to hinder purchases than brand messages were to help them. A fifth of Facebook users responding, for example, said they had given up on a purchase after seeing a negative remark on the social site. Just 18% had chosen to make a purchase based on company messages on the same site.

Overall, one-quarter of respondents across all countries made purchases based on Facebook friend recommendations and 17% of respondents using Twitter said the same.

A majority of respondents across the US and Latin America agreed that they trusted comments on social networks more than ads. In the US, 11% of Hispanic female social network users strongly agreed with that statement, while a further 48% agreed. One-quarter were undecided, leaving just 16% of US Hispanic women on social networks that put their faith in more traditional marketing messages.

Latin women were most likely to trust the advice of social network connections when it came to electronics. About half were also open to recommendations for books and magazines, music, travel and films. Purchases of more personal items such as clothing, jewelry and investments were not influenced by social networks.

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