Plan Sponsors Use Social Media for Provider Data

The “4th Annual Retirement Planscape 2013” study, conducted by Cogent Research, revealed 63% of defined contribution plan sponsors now use social media as a regular source of information (see “Plan Sponsors Embracing Social Media”).

“We specifically asked plan sponsors which social media sites they access to read, watch, discuss, share or seek information, news or opinions related to 401(k) plans or 401(k) providers,” Linda York, author of the report and practice director of Syndicated Research at Cogent Research, told PLANADVISER. “This was the first time we’ve included a social media question in our Retirement Planscape survey.”

York reported that plan sponsors were mostly linking to websites and blogs. “Nearly two-thirds of plan sponsors utilize some sort of social media platform for information related to 401(k) plan providers, almost twice the percentage of investors who utilize social media for personal finance and investing purposes (34%),” she said.

When asked what these results indicated, York said, “This relatively high level of social media usage is perhaps an indicator that plan sponsors are seeking more information about 401(k) plan providers from multiple sources as a means of determining whether a particular provider would be a potentially good fit for their organization, in terms of the provider’s capabilities, resources, and culture.”

Highlights of the Cogent study can be found here.