While you’re not catching a lot of preschoolers trolling the blogosphere, there’s evidence to suggest that parents are active and San Francisco, California-based BuzzLogic has released a new study that reveals blogs are exerting more influence on consumption choices.

BuzzLogic found that blog readership has grown 300% monthly over the past four years, and it confirmed that blogs play a key role in purchase decisions.

In a nutshell, the study discovered:

• 50% of blog readers say they find blogs useful for purchase information.

• Blogs sway more purchases among readers than social networks

• For those who have found blog content useful for making product decisions, 56% said blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise were key

• Outside of technology-related purchases, for which 31% of readers say blogs are useful, other key categories include media and entertainment (15%); games/toys and/or sporting goods (14%); travel (12%); automotive; (11%); and health (10%)