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Study: Social Networks Influence IT Decision Making

A Forrester study commissioned by LinkedIn found that a majority of IT decision makers use social networks regularly to assist in making decisions.

Social networks are playing an increasing role in the decisions made by IT professionals, according to a recent study, which states that almost all IT decision makers use social media and a majority use social media in a way that influences their professional decisions.

The study, IT Purchasing Goes Social, was conducted by Forrester and commissioned by LinkedIn, and identified a variety of trends based on 400 surveyed IT professionals across a wide range of industries.

"We wanted to understand how IT decision makers are sifting through the enormous amounts of information available to them when they're making their purchasing decisions," Mike Weir, LinkedIn's head of category development for the technology industry, told Information Week.

The study revealed that 88 percent of IT decision makers visit a social networking site at least once per month, 85 percent use at least one social networking site for business purposes, and 73 percent reported having engaged with a vendor on a social network.

About 60 percent of “IT decision makers” are influenced by at least one social network during their decision-making process, according to the study. 



The study can be viewed below, or downloaded for free on LinkedIn.com.

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