What the Hell is...Fansumers?

A fansumer is a consumer online, who is a promoting a brand through word-of-mouth marketing. It is a direct reference to Facebook's "fan" designation, wherein a user can be a fan of a given product or celebrity and establish a connection on the social network. A fansumer identifies with a brand's values and promotes it as a trusted voice to those within his or her online community.

Accordingly, the ways in which products are being marketed have shifted online. As brands accumulate information about consumers' preferences, they can place advertisements in front of customers who are more likely to champion their message. Companies are now becoming personalities on Facebook, with brands like Seventeen encouraging people to become fans online and promising insider access.

Corporations seek out fansumers to act as brand loyalists, translating the virtues of a product or service online into the new world of social media.

Origin:

Forrester Research introduced the concept of the fansumer in order to describe the evolution of the consumer online as they interact with targeted advertising on social networking sites.