Universal McCann has published the results of a research on new forms of influence, involving 17,000 users in 29 Countries and trying to describe the way brands are influenced by web users.

One of the most interesting parts is the attempt to create a detailed profile of the so-called "super influencers", a new creative class who are exercising their ability to create and spread influence on the web. Demographics, lifestyle, social attitudes and recurring patterns of social media usage are measured, as well as their most common motivations to recommend something.

There is also an interesting analysis on a geographical basis, with Italy, Japan and Spain leading the developed markets* (just under 8% of active web users fall into the super category), while other Western European markets range from 2% (Denmark) to 6.3% (Germany).

This is especially interesting when put in context with two other results that highlight the peer-to-peer, social nature of online interactions in Italy:

• "Blogging is important to socalise with friends" (65.9% agree, with just Philippines, Mexico, India and Pakistan showing a higher degree of agreement)
• "Use social networks to meet new people" (52.2% agree, well ahead of any other western European Country – ranging from 24% to 45%)

The full report ("When did we start trusting strangers?") can be downloaded on the Universal McCann website.

[*] McCann does not apparently consider Greece a developed market