Social media users like ‘prosocial’ brands, research shows

Brand new research from Let’s Heal, a Netherlands-based nonprofit, is chock full of surprises.

The first, and perhaps biggest surprise: People who often use the Internet, particularly social media, are actually nicer than people who don’t. They do more volunteer work and are more polite in public, a survey of 24,000 people in 16 countries found.

Another perhaps counterintuitive finding: They’re not just interested in deals or flashiness. People who use social media want the brands they buy to do good things in the world, too. Let’s Heal’s founder, Mark Woerde, told The Next Web that he calls such brands “prosocial.”