To mark the release of our new GWI Brand report (you can download a free summary here), today we take a look at the numbers who are liking brands.
According to our latest wave of research, 31% of internet users said that they did this last month. Although this figure still represents more than 465 million people, it continues a downward trend that we’ve been seeing since the second half of 2013. Not since Q4 2011 have we in fact recorded a lower percentage of internet users falling into the “brand liker” category.
Certainly, the decline is not dramatic – especially considering that this remains one of the most important brand-consumer interactions overall. Nevertheless, this is a sign that some consumers are starting to tire of the proposition and that the ways we use social networks are continuing to change. As we discuss in GWI Social, active usage of Facebook – where this is a very prominent behavior – continues to ebb downwards at a gentle pace and is becoming more passive in character (with people becoming more likely to visit/look at the site than actively interact with it). The rising popularity of messaging apps and services is playing a part here too.
