Norfolk ranked as a top ‘talkative city’

Norfolk has been named one of “America's Most Talkative Cities” in a study released by a word-of-mouth marketing research company.

The Hampton Roads city ranked ninth in the report prepared by The Keller Fay Group, based in New Brunswick, N.J., on the role played in marketing by information passed on in consumer conversations.  

The firm found Houston to be the most talkative city, with 95 consumer conversations per person per week, more than the residents of any other major city in the U.S.

Behind Houston, the next highest are Jacksonville, Fla., and Miami with 94 and 93 average weekly conversations per resident, respectively.  All three cities, located in the South, rank well above the national average of 79 weekly consumer conversations, per person. 

Following these three cities were: Salt Lake City, Atlanta, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Diego, Norfolk and West Palm Beach, Fla.

Nationally, media/entertainment and food/dining are the two most talked about categories, followed by sports, beverages and technology.

At the individual city level, certain categories stand out from the national norms.  For example, people in Houston are 37 percent more likely than the average American to talk about automotive brands. In Jacksonville, people are 56 percent more likely to talk about financial service brands.

The results come from TalkTrack, a continuous survey of consumer conversations. The data in this report are based on approximately 75,000 consumer interviews conducted during the past two years.