25 Favorite Reasons for Favoriting Tweets

Researchers from the UK and Germany have recently published the results of a survey given to 606 Twitter users, asking them why they ‘favorite’ things on the popular social site.  While the sample size is limited, and there may be some issues with the overall results of the survey, the data can certainly still be useful to marketers.  The following 25 reasons are given in order of popularity.

1. Subjective Reasons (It was funny, they agree with the political point, it was heartwarming, ect)
2. They want to read it later – Many people favorite tweets when they want to come back to them later.  This is especially popular for links to articles or videos.
3. They found it relevant to the topic at hand (tweets ‘favorited’ when in a Twitter discussion, for example).
4. The tweet reflected their own opinion on a subject (this one seems similar to #1 to me, but I suppose it can be different too).
5. They supported the idea in the tweet, but did not want to publically say so.
6. The Tweet evoked a subjective emotional response (made them feel loved or special)
7. The Tweet contained multimedia content that they felt was relevant
8. They really liked the tweet, but not for any specific reason
9. They wanted to book this tweet as a memento (anniversary tweet maybe?)
10. They found the tweet to be objectively emotional (this one must be a link to the Sara McLaughlin ASPCA commercials, right?)
11. They were specifically mentioned in the tweet
12. They liked it for objective reasons
13. They wanted people to know they liked it, but not enough to retweet it
14. The tweet was from a celebrity
15. They found it relevant to a current situation they are in
16. It is just their way of engaging in a conversation
17. They are trying to get other people engaged in a conversation
18. They are trying to win a contest
19. They are bookmarking it for a specific need in the future (recipes, ect)
20. The person tweeting is a friend or lover
21. The person tweeting is a family member
22. It was an accident
23. They consider favorites more meaningful than retweets
24. They are trying to win a non-commercial competition
25. They think favoriting a tweet will help them remember it

While some of these reasons are not something that can be replicated by marketers, many of them can be.  Whenever making a tweet, see if you can fit it into one of these categories to attempt to encourage more people to favorite them.

The study can be seen HERE.