A powerful organization headed by the CEOs of the world’s largest corporations are looking to Facebook and other social networks as a means to get further inside consumers’ heads.

The Conference Board, which includes top executives from Merck, Alcoa, Deutsche Bank and Yale University, said this week that the social networks’ “cheery atmosphere(s)” make them an ideal place to make brand impressions.

“Obtaining information about others” is one of a consumer’s most positive online experiences, according to the Conference Board, which also produces the the oft cited Consumer Confidence Index.

Marketers, schooled in the positive psychology movement popularized by Marty Seligman, are typically obsessed with consumers’ feelings. They seek to be associated with strong emotional triggers, preferably positive ones.

Advertisers, for example, pressured news organizations to kill the bad news reports coming out of Afghanistan after 9/11, and to replace them with positive stories.

Consumer Internet Barometer – The Conference Board
Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: “Online social networking is an integral part of many people’s lives and a natural extension of our means of communication which the Internet has created. The next growth wave will be expanding and incorporating these networks into our business lives.”