Top Social Media Brand: Facebook or YouTube?
YouTube is the highest ranked social media brand in equity among Americans 13 to 24 years old, based on results from the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study from Harris Interactive.
However, when social media is compared to television, Kids TV Programming and Broadcast TV Network brands garner higher equity scores in general.
Additionally, among those social media outlets surveyed, both YouTube and Facebook receive substantially higher scores than competitors, demonstrating their significant market lead.
[ Also Read: Seven Serious UX Flaws on Facebook ]“All the talk is about Facebook, so it is surprising to see YouTube come out as the social media ‘Brand of the Year’,” said Regina A. Corso, senior VP for Youth and Education Research at Harris Interactive.
“For many teens and young adults, the allure of Facebook is still there, but YouTube has become an alternative media outlet. This is something that marketers should remember when creating their social media strategies.”
Youth EquiTrend calculates brand equity by measuring familiarity, quality, and purchase consideration; develops an average score for each category; and awards “Brand of the Year” honors to the highest ranking brands in their respective categories.
Within the 13 youth interest categories that comprise the study, there are three media groups: kid TV programming, broadcast TV network, and social media.
Kids TV Programming (among 8-12 year olds)
The 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend Kids TV Programming Brand of the Year is Nickelodeon, owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. Other brands with equity scores above the category average are Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, NickToons and Disney XD.
[ Also Visit: RMN Kids – An Edutainment Site for Children ]Broadcast TV Network (among 8-24 year olds)
Among a broader youth audience, ABC, the home of new series Once Upon a Time and the popular Dancing with the Stars, is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend Broadcast TV Network Brand of the Year. Fox Television Network and CBS take the second and third slots.
Social Media (among 13-24 year olds)
YouTube is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend Social Media Brand of the Year followed by Facebook. The two other social media sites surveyed fall below the category average.
[ Also Read: Five Social Media Myths Debunked ]The Youth EquiTrend study evaluates measures including: Equity, Emotional Connection, and Brand Advocacy. The keystone to the program is Equity, which provides an understanding of a brand’s overall strength and is determined by a calculation of Familiarity, Quality, and Purchase Consideration.
This year’s Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study was conducted online among 5,077 U.S. consumers ages 8-24 in August, 2011. A total of 121 brands were rated among 8-12 year olds and 167 brands among 13-24 year olds.
Each 8-12 year old respondent was asked to rate a total of 15 randomly selected brands and each 13-24 year old respondent was asked to rate a total of 22 randomly selected brands.
Each brand received at least 130 ratings. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 8-24 on the basis of age, sex, education, urbanicity (8-17 year olds) race/ethnicity, region, parental education (8-17 year olds) and income (18-24 year olds), and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online. The study results were released Wednesday, Nov. 2.
Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms.
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