User:Cbuquid/Social consumer

The Social Consumer refers to a consumer that participates in social commerce, social shopping, and consults with social media and social networks when making purchasing decisions. Social consumerism implies the integration of the consumer's social graph during the traditional shopping experience.

Characteristics
During the traditional sales cycle, social consumer characteristics can include:
 * incorporating geo-location applications (such as Foursquare or gowalla) to check-in.
 * utilizing Twitter and Facebook as entry points to purchase.
 * purchasing through collective coupon sites like Groupon or LivingSocial.
 * consulting with social networks for recommendations.

History
The term was first introduced by Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Digital Strategic Services for the Nielsen Company at a Consumer 360 insight session in June 2010. The concept of the Social Consumer was further developed by Brian Solis in his article The Dawn of the Social Consumer. Fast Company recognized this rising demographic and cultural shift soon after. The Social Consumer was also the focus of a research report by the Pivot Conference titled Trends in Marketing to Social Consumers.

In March 2011 the Business Development Institute held a roundtable to discuss the shifting motivations of the social consumer. That same year the focus of the Pivot Conference explored this shifting demographic.