Though many adults in Canada seem to take the information in blogs at face value, others exhibit skepticism - but reactions vary widely, depending on the topic of the blog, according to “Blogging in Canada,” a new Ipsos Reid study of the marketing potential of blogs.

Among the findings of the Ipsos study:

• Nearly two-thirds of adult internet users in Canada say the information in blogs is a reliable way to keep up to date on new technology (10% very reliable, 54% somewhat reliable); one in eight (13%) say the information is not at all reliable.
• When it comes to forming an opinion about a company or corporation, only half of Canadian internet users say the information in a blog would be reliable (4% very reliable, 47% somewhat reliable); the other half say it is not (34% not very reliable, 15% not at all reliable).
• When asked what impact positive comments regarding a product or service in a blog would have on the likelihood of purchasing it:
  • 10% of adult Canadian internet users say it would make them much more likely to purchase the product.
  • 51% say it would make them somewhat more likely to purchase.
• The effect of negative comments in a blog is a little stronger:
  • 12% say negative comments about a product or service would make them much less likely to purchase.
  • 54% say it would make them somewhat less likely to purchase.
• Internet users who are experienced in using blogs are more likely to be affected one way or another by comments about a product or service in a blog:
  • 17% of self-described bloggers say negative comments would make them much less likely to purchase.
  • 17% said positive comments would make them much more likely to purchase.
• One in three Canadian adults with internet access report having visited a blog (34%), with half of those saying they visited a blog within the past week (19% today; 10% yesterday; 22% two to seven days ago).
• Those more likely to have visited a blog:
  • 36% of men vs. 31% of women.
  • Internet users 18-34 years old: 45% - compared with 32% of 35-54-year-olds and 21% of those 55 and older.
  • Those with higher education levels: 40% of university graduates; 36% of those with some postsecondary education; and 21% of those with high school education or less.
• Three in ten online Canadian adults who say they have never visited a blog before report being likely to do so in the next 12 months (7% very likely; 24% somewhat likely). If half follow through and visit a blog, total visitation among Canadian internet users could climb to the 45% range in the next year.
• In general, Canadian bloggers tend to use the internet more heavily in their daily routine that non-bloggers:
  • Bloggers report spending 56% more time connected to and actively using the internet in an average week than non-bloggers (23.4 hours vs. 15.0 hours, respectively).
  • Bloggers report more time spent using the internet overlapping other activities, like watching TV, listening to the radio, working or spending time with family and friends, than non-bloggers (average of 7.7 vs. 5.2, respectively).
  • Bloggers are more likely to report participating in nearly every online activity tracked:
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    • Online banking (83% bloggers; 65% non-bloggers)
    • Comparison shopping for products (81% bloggers; 65% non-bloggers)
    • Purchasing products and services online (80% bloggers; 62% non-bloggers)
    • Clicking through on website advertising (73% bloggers; 50% non-bloggers).
• More than half of adult Canadians who have visited a blog say they use a search engine (53%) to find a blog of interest.
• Once they have found a site or blog they like, bloggers tend to bookmark them: four-in-ten say they have done so (42%).
• The various other ways that Canadians find blogs: using personal or professional networking sites (17%), checking out news outlet websites (14%) and searching company websites (13%).

About the study: The “Blogging in Canada” survey is a special feature of the “Canadian Inter @ctive Reid Report, Quarter 1, 2007,” which uses two separate data-collection instruments. In the first, 1,000 web users from Ipsos Reid’s Canadian Internet Panel are surveyed online. Panelists are chosen through random telephone surveys conducted on an ongoing basis across Canada. Second, a further 1,000 interviews are conducted via telephone with Canadian adults in order to verify results of the panel and track issues among non-internet users. Telephone interviews for this release were conducted March 16-21, 2007; the online data was collected from March 16 to 22.