The Luxury Sector Is Keen To Try Social Computing

Forrester recently surveyed 122 brands, services providers, and merchants in the luxury consumer segment. Familiarity with Social Computing activities runs high with this group; however, beyond the use of search engines with sophisticated merchandising capabilities on their Web sites, few have adopted Social Computing activities to interact with their customers. But many more say they are willing to try things like taking part in social networks and forums, offering a user-generated review section on their Web sites, or creating blogs. A few luxury firms currently make the most use of these activities, such as Rémy Martin and boutique winemaker Stormhoek. Our data suggests that while respondents spent 5% on average of their 2007 marketing budget on Social Computing, both budgets and dedicated resources for these initiatives will increase over the next five years.