Discuss the function of citizen marketers. Provide some details about the different types of citizen marketers and their importance to the MPR process

What will be an ideal response?

A lone consumer using the Internet today is able to influence other consumers' perceptions of industries, companies and their products. Using blogs and other social media, citizen marketers are redefining the marketing process. The distributed nature of citizen marketing means that virtually any person can influence consumer decision-making by acting as a publisher or broadcaster. Consumers are creating content about products whether companies like it or not. As a result these consumers are becoming a new, influential force.

Citizen marketers are not typically members of the mainstream media. Citizen marketers examine and rate products, brands, industries or companies. Citizen marketing represents an opportunity for an ordinary person to become a valued information source.

According to Ben McConnell and Jacki Huba, citizen marketers can be divided into four types: filters, fanatics, facilitators and firecrackers. Filters observe, collect and share stories from the media and also package and pass on content from the blogosphere, podcasts or fan creations about products and companies. Fanatics are consumers who behave like product evangelists. They regularly monitor and analyze brands and organizations then offer praise or criticism. Facilitators typically are creators or facilitators of online communities, often acting as unofficial support groups for consumers of certain products. Sometimes facilitators merely act as meeting points for brand fans. Firecrackers generate short-term public interest for their creations - songs, animations, videos, or other novelty that draws momentary attention from other consumers.