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Study Into Bloggers' Power Over Brands

'Dell Hell' blogs have measurable, long-term negative impact on Dell's reputation says the UK's first scientific evaluation of bloggers' influence on corporate reputation...

'Dell Hell' blogs have measurable, long-term, negative impact on Dell's reputation says the UK's first scientific evaluation of bloggers' influence on corporate reputation...

[Register and post your own comments on this article below...]

In a new white paper launched today, analysis clearly reveals that blogging has a direct influence on corporate reputation. The white paper, Measuring the Influence of Bloggers on Corporate Reputation scientifically measures, for the first time, the influence of bloggers versus conventional media.

Authored by Market Sentinel, Onalytica and immediate future PR, the white paper uses the example of blogger Jeff Jarvis's criticism of the computer retailer, Dell. It shows first that Dell has sustained long-term damage to its brand image and secondly that the cheerleaders for the poor reputation of Dell's customer services, are bloggers.

Bloggers dominate the reputation spectrum

Bloggers have extended their influence from dominating negative perceptions of Dell to dominating perceptions of Dells entire reputation in the customer services area, says Flemming Madsen from Onalytica.

As he explains it, Bloggers used Jeff Jarvis's shorthand "Dell Hell" to collaboratively spread negative comment about Dells customer service: weakening Dells reputation where the company used to be so strong.

The white paper uses the science of citation indexing: sort of maths that calculates a writer's authority in a particular context and produces an index of dominant authorities. This is familiar in academic use, but is here applied to the web for the first time.

Conventional media's authority waning

The analysis demonstrates how bloggers exercise their power and how their authority has come at the expense of the conventional media sources such as the Washington Post and The New York Times.

According to Mark Rogers, CEO at Market Sentinel, measuring the influence of bloggers is often based on subjective opinion and rough gauges based on comment and Google rankings.

"We wanted to take a scientific approach," he continued, "objectively demonstrating which bloggers have authority and an ability to affect corporate reputation. Using the science of citation indexing, and the Dell case study, we are able to quantify and analysis the impact each blogger has on a companys brand image and analyse the indirect influence as well as direct impact: proving that blogging has a significant affect on reputation."

The white paper is available for download at:
http://www.marketsentinel.com/files/MeasuringBloggerInfluen ce61205.pdf [7MB]

About Market Sentinel:
Market Sentinel uses proprietary technology to benchmark the reputations of big corporations and brands, monitors commentary on those brands in message boards and blogs and shows brand owners how to respond to challenges to their reputation. Visit www.marketsentinel.com/blog or contact Simon.rogers@marketsentinel. com +44 (0)207 793 1575

About Onalytica:
Onalytica provides clients with a precise understanding of who influence their brands or issues of their interest. We often publish Stakeholder Analysis Reports a wide range of topics. Find them at www.onalytica.com/

About Immediate future:
immediate future Ltd is an independent public relations agency, specialising in online PR for organisations wanting to maximise their exposure on the web. From corporate blogging to blog relations and search optimised releases to podcasting, immediate future has expertise across the spectrum of online PR tactics. www.immediatefuture.co.uk