Temkin Group Research Finds That Facebook And Twitter Lag Other Channels For Communicating Feedback About An Experience

Online, March 2, 2011 (Newswire.com) - In a new research report called "How Consumers Give Feedback," Temkin Group analyzes survey responses from 6,000 US consumers. The research dives into what consumers do after having a very good or very bad experience.

"Word of mouth is critical for most companies, so it's important to understand how customers share their experiences with others" stated Bruce Temkin, Customer Experience Transformist and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.

It turns out that the most common communication about good and bad experiences occurs between friends via email, phone, or in person. While few consumers share their experiences directly with the companies that pleased or displeased them, far fewer shared those experiences via social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and 3rd party ratings sites.

The report also analyzes the social media behavior of the customer bases for more than 140 companies. When it comes to negative social media feedback, Days Inn, E*Trade, and Apple were the most susceptible to negative feedback via Facebook. Days Inn, Courtyard By Marriott, and Hyatt were the most susceptible via Twitter.

According to Temkin: "Despite all of the hype, social media is not a dominant channel for feedback. But there's a lot of variability by consumer segments. So companies need to understand how their customers give feedback."

Additional findings from the report include:

• The most popular thing to do after a very good or bad experience is to tell a friend about it via email, phone, or in-person. 63% of consumers did this after a very bad experience, while 53% did it after a very good one.
• Thirty-seven percent of consumers did not tell anyone about a very good experience, while 23% did not tell anyone about a very bad experience.
• Only 21% of consumers told companies directly about their good experiences and 34% told a company about their bad experiences.
• Only 20% of consumers wrote about their bad experience in Facebook and 11% write about it on Twitter.
• Hispanic consumers used Facebook more than Caucasians and African Americans to talk about their experiences.
• African American consumers were the least likely to tell companies about a bad experience.
• The higher the educational level, the more likely consumers were to give feedback directly to companies.
• Higher income consumers were more likely to share their good and bad experiences via Twitter

This report can be accessed from the Temkin Group website at http://www.temkingroup.com or from the blog, Customer Experience Matters, at http://experiencematters.wordpress.com.