The growth in Irish consumers engaging with brands on social networking sites suggests that these platforms are a key channel through which companies can reach them to promote their value proposition. However, increasing levels of Irish consumers are claiming to be annoyed by advertising on social networks.

This report examines the online social networking sector in Ireland, and highlights the social and media networking sites that Irish consumers are using, how often they are accessing them, the activities that consumers perform on these sites and their attitudes towards online social and media networks.

• What are the most popular social and media networking sites in Ireland? – Does Facebook still dominate the market? Are new platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp popular among Irish consumers? How often do consumers access social networking sites? What are social and media networks doing to attract users?

• Are consumers receptive to advertising on social and media networking sites? – Do Irish consumers engage with advertising on social and media networking sites? Does advertising on social networking sites annoy consumers? Have consumers ‘liked’ or ‘unliked’ a brand or company on social networking sites?

• What type of activities are Irish consumers doing on social and media networking sites? – Why are Irish consumers using social networks? Are consumers primarily using these sites to stay in touch with friends? Do Irish consumers follow celebrities or brands that they like? Are they learning about new products and offers from social and media networking sites?

• How have the recent privacy revelations affected Irish consumers’ use of social networks? – Have Irish consumers reduced their usage of social networking sites because of the recent privacy regulations? With regular changes to privacy settings and security beaches, do Irish consumers trust social networking sites with their data?

• What are Irish consumers looking for when using social and media networking sites? – Are consumers asking other users or companies for product information? Does group buying with other consumers on social networks to obtain discounts appeal to Irish consumers?

Other Mintel reports of relevance include:

• Digital Trends Spring – UK, March 2014

• Culture and Heritage Tourism – Ireland, January 2014

• The Impact of Social Media on Tourism – International, August 2013

• Apps and Applications – Ireland, July 2013

• Social Networking – UK, May 2013

• Online Social Networking – Ireland, April 2013.

This report will examine online social media in Ireland through discussing what is influencing or impeding its growth on the island. Furthermore, this report will look at the two types of social media sites:

• Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+, where the main aim is to interact with people.

• Media networking sites such as Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram, where the main aim is to view, read, watch or create media content.

This report will consider how Irish companies can use social and media networking sites to engage consumers and open new revenue streams, if these platforms are an effective advertising medium and some of the key issues for consumers when using these sites, such as data security.

As determining a market size or value is not feasible for the social networking industry in Ireland, the Market in Context section of the report will look at case studies of Irish companies that use social networking sites. Case companies include Bord Bia, Danske Bank, Heineken, Tourism Ireland and University of Ulster.

For the purpose of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive online research into the social and media networking sites that Irish consumers use, how often they access these sites, the activities that consumers perform while using these sites and their attitudes towards online social networking. The research was carried out by Toluna on behalf of Mintel in April 2014.

A total of 750 internet users aged 16+ in NI and 1,250 internet users aged 16+ in RoI were asked the following questions:

“Which of the following social and media networking sites, if any, have you used in the last three months?”

“How often do you visit the following social and media networks?”

“Still thinking about social and media networking sites, which, if any, of the following statements do you agree with?”

The results from this survey are discussed in The Consumer sections of this report.

Mintel also draws consumer insight from other sources:

• Mintel’s database and previous Mintel reports from the UK and Ireland.

In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and CSO – Central Statistics Office). In some cases, therefore, it has not been possible to provide comparable data for each region.

For the purpose of this report:

• IoI refers to the island of Ireland.

• NI refers to Northern Ireland.

• RoI refers to the Republic of Ireland.

Therefore, ‘Irish consumers’ refers to both NI and RoI consumers.