Te latest research from the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) shows that business professionals are increasingly drawn to thought leadership in online communities.

The research was conducted by SCNR fellows Don Bulmer (SAP), Vanessa DiMauro and Peter Auditore.

Here are some of the key findings:

- Access to thought leadership content is now the #1 reason why professionals surveyed visit networks and communities.

- Professionals are collaborating with each other via the thought leadership content they generate, curate or share. No longer is collaboration an experience between a limited number of people.

- While nearly all professionals surveyed (97%) use LinkedIn, the use of smaller (niche) professional networks are activity being used to find peers and content specifically related to the work that they do (by role, industry, geography, etc.).

- Professional communities are being used more frequently to inform business strategy and supporting new products and services (much more than in 2009).

- 80% of respondents are able to accelerate decision process and information/strategy development by participating in communities.

- "The Crescendo Effect" in social media environments has great impact on the buying decision. High quality content yields transparency and credibility.

The research also found that actions such as "like" or "retweet" create a culture of endorsement that has become central to business-based social media communities.

There is more information here.

And here is a Slideshare deck: