Gartner attempts to profile social networking users

Research firm offers a "social network framework" of business users

Gartner claims that social networks can influence customer purchasing decisions

Gartner analysts have attempted to offer an explanation into the way social networks influence consumer buying behaviour.

The research firm claims that consumers often rely on social networks to guide them in their purchasing decisions. It has now attempted to classify users according to the different roles and functions they fulfill in recommending products to other business users with whom they share a connection.

However, a two-thirds majority of the population surveyed by Gartner did not definitively fall into any of these social network categories.

The framework defines the following roles:

• Connectors — They have contacts in different social groups and enjoy introducing people to each other. Heavy Connectors have varied but tight social circles with whom they maintain very regular contact; whereas Light Connectors span a much wider range of different groups, but inevitably with ties that are much weaker and less frequent.

• Salesmen — Salesmen have extensive social connections, but their defining characteristic is their propensity to persuade people to do things, buy certain products and act in certain ways.

• Seekers — Seekers connect with other people in order to find out the information, skills and obligations they need to conduct their daily lives.

• Mavens — Mavens are experts in particular areas, and other people go to Mavens for advice. Unlike Salesmen, Mavens aren't out to persuade people but use and acquire information for their own interests.

• Self-Sufficients — These people prefer to find out for themselves what they need to know in order to satisfy their needs.

The 66 per cent majority have been labelled “unclassified”. Gartner said that this was to be expected and admitted that this reflects the firm’s approach to processing the survey data.

The firm said that it did not classify respondents who did not clearly fall into one of the categories. It admitted that people more often than not exhibit characteristics of different categories and may fulfill different roles in different social contexts.