New Blog Research Shows Widespread Impact of Chinese Product Recalls

Boulder, Colo. (PRWEB) November 29, 2007 -- Is the "Made in China" label prompting consumers to run the other way? How has the recent wave of Chinese-made product recalls impacted consumer confidence in American-made products? Most importantly, what strategies can U.S. companies develop to address these growing concerns?

Umbria Inc., a market intelligence company that specializes in blog research (http://www.umbrialistens.com/services/index.php) and consumer generated media (http://www.umbrialistens.com/company/index.php) (CGM) for market insight, is releasing new blogosphere research showing that the recent recalls of Chinese-manufactured products like Mattel toys, pet food, baby bibs and tires is sparking immense consumer concern that could prove detrimental for consumer packaged goods (http://www.umbrialistens.com/industries/cpg.php) companies worldwide.

By analyzing blog posts, Umbria discovered that negative sentiment for American-made products actually increased as Chinese product defects were announced. This negative spill-over was also seen with products made from other foreign countries, pointing to a considerable mistrust of all products, regardless of origin.

"It was startling to find such a high number of bloggers shifting their distrust of Chinese-made products to also encompass those made domestically," said Carter Truong, Manager of Consumer Insight and Strategy at Umbria. "However, we also learned that brands willing to own up to their mistakes and that demonstrate concern for their customers' well being are least likely to take a hit at the cash register."

Other compelling insights culled from Umbria's product recall research include:

?    Blogosphere conversations about where products are manufactured jumped from 241 a week before the pet food recall to 865 a week after the Mattel toy recall

?    More males than females (63% vs. 37%) blog about the origins of products, and males tend to form quality judgments based on where products were made

?    An increased distrust of American products is partly due to an awareness that even products made domestically contain foreign-based ingredients and parts

?    Consumer packaged goods that related to ingestion (e.g. toy parts) caused greater concern than other types of products (e.g. tires)

?    Gen Y (ages 16-28) blog most about where products originated, with a primary focus on social issues like working conditions

?    Gen X (ages 29-42) tended to discuss the origin of a product supplemental to other topics, such as the economy

?    Baby Boomers (ages 43-62) also focused on larger macro issues; however, unlike with Gen X, the origin of the product drove the discussion, while the macro issues played more of a supporting role

?    All consumer groups hold the government most accountable for the quality of imported goods, with manufacturers ranking second on the list

?    The top three industries referenced in these blogosphere conversations were toys, food & beverage and apparel

Umbria harvested even deeper insights by analyzing the psychographics of four clustered consumer segments -- un-phased consumers, passive consumers, proactive consumers and ethnocentric consumers. They discovered that un-phased consumers do not plan to change their shopping habits, passive consumers place accountability on the government and retailers, proactive consumers are checking labels before buying, and ethnocentric consumers are proud of American brands and target certain industries and brands.

"By clustering bloggers into specific groups based on their attitudes and behaviors as part of our research process, we can help companies know which segments to target with their marketing efforts and the distinct hot buttons of each," said Truong.

Umbria's product recall research is based on data collected from more than 30 million blogs from March 1 - Aug. 26, 2007. Umbria's Recalls Study can be downloaded at http://www.umbrialistens.com/industries/cpg.php

About Umbria Inc.

Umbria is unique in its ability to assess both what is being said, and who is doing the speaking in the online world. Umbria's patent-pending technology enables the company to classify posts and estimate gender and age of the speaker, as well as rapidly identify and eliminate bogus spam posts. Umbria analyzes voices of the online community by using proprietary Natural Language Processing and machine learning algorithms to dissect the who, what and why of online opinion, offering in-depth insights for some of the world's leading brands. For more information on Umbria, please visit www.umbrialistens.com.

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