PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Todd Powers AU - Dorothy Advincula AU - Manila S. Austin AU - Stacy Graiko AU - Jasper Snyder TI - Digital and Social Media In the Purchase Decision Process AID - 10.2501/JAR-52-4-479-489 DP - 2012 Dec 01 TA - Journal of Advertising Research PG - 479--489 VI - 52 IP - 4 4099 - http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/52/4/479.short 4100 - http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/52/4/479.full SO - J Advert Res2012 Dec 01; 52 AB - This study is an excerpt from a larger work that explores changes in the purchase process for consumer goods (automobiles, electronics, and groceries) brought about by digital and social media. Commissioned by the Advertising Research Foundation; conducted by Communispace, comScore, Converseon, and Firefly Millward Brown; sponsored by General Motors, Google, Kraft, Motorola, and Young & Rubicam; and with guidance from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, the qualitative, quantitative, and social-listening research was conducted in 2011. Findings indicate that digital and social media have empowered consumers and that brands have an important role in facilitating conversations among consumers and themselves, openly sharing the values that will help consumers connect with them and with one another.