Jan 31, 2006 6:04 AM, PROMO Xtra

The majority of U.S. adult Internet users share content with others via email, with jokes and cartoons being the most frequently forwarded content.

Some 89% of adults surfers share content, 63% share that content at least once a week, with 25% sharing daily or almost daily, and as many as 75% of the respondents forward this content to up to six other recipients, according to a survey on viral marketing by Sharpe Partners, a New York interactive marketing agency.

"We knew a lot of people were sharing content, but even we didn't expect it to be so pervasive," said Kathy Sharpe, CEO of Sharpe Partners. "But, the real challenge for interactive marketing agencies like ours is developing content that these people will want to consistently share with a wide, yet focused circle of acquaintances."

As for the type of content routed, the most popular is humorous material, with 88% forwarding jokes or cartoons, followed by news (56%), healthcare and medical information (32%), religious and spiritual material (30%), games (25%), business and personal finance information (24%) and sports/hobbies (24%).

"Humor is clearly the golden child of viral marketing, but it is also very subjective," Sharpe said. "That is why we recommend a viral conduit that allows the target to define the humor, rather than presuming that we always know what the audience will find funny."

For companies looking to use viral marketing, the study found that adding overt brand messages only slightly reduced the likelihood that the content will be shared. Fifty-six percent of the respondents are less or slightly less likely to forward such content, whereas 43% said they are more or slightly more likely to send marketing-related messages. Only 5% refused to share content that contained a clear brand message. In addition, those who shared content more frequently were less likely to view branded messages as a negative, the survey found.

The survey also found that 75% of respondents said that brand sponsorship had no impact on whether or not they forwarded a message, 19% said it actually has a positive impact and only 7% deemed it negative.

Women in their late 30s and early 40s who live in the South or Midwest were cited as the most likely people to share content. Sixty-four percent of the female respondents share content at least once a week versus 58% of males. Residents of the South (68%) and Midwest (66%) are likely to be more frequent forwarders than their counterparts in the West (58%) and East (55%).

Ethnicity is a factor as well. Blacks/African-Americans and Whites/Caucasians share content most frequently, with 63% sharing at least once a week, followed by Hispanic/Latin-Americans at 56%, and Asian-Americans at 46%.

Level of education had only a slight influence, with 64% of those without a college degree sharing weekly versus 61% with a college degree. Marital status, the presence of children, and household income did not prove to be factors, similar to the length of time someone has been using the Internet, the survey found.

The survey questioned 1,071 U.S. adults and was conducted online by Greenfield Omnibus from September 23-26, 2005.

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