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发帖数: 52 | 1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2012/09/06/heres-h
A week ago, I suggested that Apple’s victory over Samsung, in last month’s
eagerly awaited patent verdict, could hurt Apple and its reputation more
than it would Samsung’s. That seems to be how it’s turning out.
Worse, for Apple, the reaction against the brand is coming from its own fan
base. Following the verdict, a significant proportion of comments on the
Apple Facebook page, were strong reactions against Apple’s use of the
patent laws for what was seen as trivial innovation.
That is one of the conclusions drawn by researchers at Media Measurement Ltd
, a London based social media analysis company who undertook an initial
review of social media commentary on the verdict for me. Their most serious
conclusion is that the patent trial alienated members of Apple’s core fan
base, those advocates and defenders who have provided Apple with staunch
support down the years.
The graph below shows a breakdown of the types of comments about the trial
made on the Apple Facebook page. They are mostly negative about Apple’s
actions and motives.
It is perhaps also significant that shortly after the case, rumors began to
spread that Apple’s CEO was holding secret talks with Google’s about their
patent conflict. Chances are Apple had already begun to add up the cost to
its reputation.
Media Measurement analyzed social media data between the 3rd and 30th August
to do an initial probe of the case and its fallout. Here’s what they found:
In the week beginning 24th August, over 700,000 discussions or shares of the
trial and its protagonists were distributed on the web, the vast majority
of them on Twitter but with a significant number (58,000) also in public
Facebook posts.
The proportion of negative posts attributed to Apple and Samsung was about
the same, each incurred about 62% negative sentiment. Now that might be
partly attributable to the analysis software’s lack of sensitivity to the
core discussion but Media Measurement used Radian 6, a commonly used
sentiment analysis tool.
What it means is that Apple picked up just as much negative sentiment as
Samsung did.
Media Measurement went further and explored the results with human analysis.
Sentiment against the verdict was broadly distributed across a number of
issues – the patent system, Apple itself, anti-corporate culture, anti-
choice, anti-Android and anti-Apple. Sentiment in favor of the verdict was
very narrowly focused – it was pro-Apple.
But the big loss for Apple was on its own Facebook page, according to Media
Measurement.
“Prior to the verdict, posts on Apple’s Facebook page covered a range of
topics, including technical queries, questions about the release of products
, complaints about price and product performance, and general messages of
support and praise. In the week following the Apple/Samsung verdict, 40% of
the posts specifically referred to the trial.
Following the trial, there was a large increase in negative posts on the
Apple Facebook page. Despite the vitriol in some of the posts criticizing
Apple for its patent action against Samsung, few defended the brand.” The
graph below shows the percentages of negative, positive and neutral
sentiment, among those who commented on the trial on the Apple Facebook page
, according to Media Measurement Ltd. Note the substantial increase in
negative sentiment towards Apple, post the verdict (the red area). |
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