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"Online Social Networks: Trust Not Included, Breaking through in a medium marred by privacy concerns and skepticism," a recent research paper by Vision Critical, reveals that while trust is a major concern among some consumers who interact on social networks, many others are open to advertising there. The study surveyed about 10,000 consumers in the United States, Britain, and Canada over the past 12 months.

A full 70 percent of respondents are concerned about their privacy in social networks; 64 percent fear that social networks sell their personal information to advertisers. Even so, nearly 60 percent think that social networks are a good place for companies to advertise. In fact, 33 percent said that they don't mind if a social network uses their personal preference to target advertising, because the ads are then more relevant.

Additionally, more than 40 percent said that they enjoy learning about brands and products in that setting and about a quarter have made a purchase based on something they saw in a social network. About a third of respondent said that they are able to make more informed purchase decisions because of information learned in a social network.

Of course, recommendations still outweigh ads when it comes to purchase influence. According to the research paper, more than half of respondents trust recommendations from friends, family, and contacts most; only 16 percent trust advertisements. Interestingly, 86 percent of respondents who visit social networks daily also watch TV daily. They also read newspapers (26 percent) and magazines (10 percent) daily.

So where to advertise? When it comes to social networks it may be best to tread carefully and closely monitor consumer reaction, encourage collaboration among your customers in appropriate cases, and harness the power of multichannel marketing.