Women are more apt to be believers in the power of individuals to make a difference by supporting causes, while men view supporting causes as a fad, according to the Dynamics in Cause Engagement study from Ogilvy PR and Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication. When it comes to social media, women are more likely than men to recognize the role that sites like Facebook can play in facilitating cause involvement. Other findings include:
• Two-thirds of women (65%) believe that social networking sites can increase visibility for causes, and 6 in 10 (60%) believe they allow people to support causes more easily.
• Women are more likely to support causes through promotional social media activities (e.g., joining a cause group on Facebook, posting a logo to a social profile, contributing to a blog) than men (17% vs. 12%, respectively).
• Women turn to social media as a source of cause information more often than men—though for both, this lags far behind traditional TV, print media sources and personal relationships.
• Nearly three-quarters of men and women agree that e-mails about causes can sometimes feel like spam, and about half of both populations admit that they get too many cause-related e-mails now.
Source: Ogilvy PR/Georgetown University