Blog Endorsements

Do you read blog reviews of products and then buy the product? Recently I came across an article about the liability parenting blogs may have when it comes to product endorsements. I guess I had not given any thought to the importance of these endorsements. Have you ever purchased an item because you read a blog about it?Have you ever considered blogging about a product? I know some moms who have done this. There is even a web site where you can sign up to become involved in word-of-mouth marketing. Business Week Magazine recently ran an article describing how companies can to pitch to mommy bloggers.Apparently there is a regulatory review process underway by the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether reviews by bloggers may be in violation of good business practices. Maria Bailey of BSM Media says that moms spend $2.1 trillion annually and that this is expected to go up to $3 trillion by 2012. Her data states that 80 percent of moms buy a product at the recommendation of another mother and 87 percent of mothers read blogs.Do you think this is true? Anyone have an idea of how we can verify this data?Marketing to moms through blogs appears to be big business! Brenda