• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 12, 2014

No doubt about it -- Snapchat continues to gain fans who admittedly "love" the platform -- although it remains unclear what the reported Snapchat-authorized sale of 17.4 million preferred shares in a Delaware filing made Monday means for the company. No one wants to say it, but compulsive behavior seems to be a trait. A new study reveals that the majority of fans are women, so what does that insinuate about the female population.

The Millennial generation -- the company's biggest fans -- love the ability to get something out in the open and make it disappear. Remember the photo you wish you hadn't sent? After the fact, you search for it on Bing, Google or Yahoo and find it, cringe, and wish you sent it as a Snapchat instead. Understanding this demographic can help marketers draw a correlation between disappearing photos, social media and purchase habits. Here's how.

The Insight Report from consumer polling and insights company CivicScience looks beyond the demographics to provide a deeper understanding of Snapchat fans. It's based on more than 18,000 anonymously researched U.S. respondents, 13 years of age and older, and analyzes responses from the 1,221 participants who admittedly "love" the platform by gender, East Coast vs. West Coast, income, city vs. rural living, and more.

The report reveals that fans who love Snapchat are more than two times more likely to get fashion inspiration from social media sites, 87% more likely to say fashion trends impact what they wear, and 86% more likely to say their friends and other contacts on social media influence the products they buy. And about 59% are more likely influenced by comments or recommendations, rather than TV or online ads

Snapchat fans are more likely influenced by their social media friends when it comes to movies and television --  at 95% -- and twice as likely when it comes to music. They also are 50% more likely to try new products before others, and 33% more likely to always seek out online reviews for items they want to purchase.

About 14% of U.S. consumers have used Snapchat, and half of those say they love it. An additional 4% of the total respondents have not used it yet, but plan to give it a try. While the low numbers suggest plenty of room for enormous growth, gaining a better understanding of the millennial generation loving Snapchat will make it easier to develop and market products to this generation.

A recent comScore post highlights the importance of knowing this group of consumers. Snapchat holds the No. 3 spot on the most popular social app list among the millennial generation, 18- to-34-year-olds, per comScore. The app holds 32.9% penetration, trailing only Facebook at 75.6% and Instagram at 43.1% among smartphone users.

The fans who are 29% more likely to live in a city, two times more likely to live with their parents, and nearly two times more likely not registered to vote. Women make us about 69% versus men at 31%. The general population accounts for about 51% women and 49% men. This generation is 25% more likely than the general population to have a household income of less than $25,000, and at least 58% are not yet parents.

Not all regions feel the same way about the technology, per CivicScience. Millennials living in the Northeastern United States are 55% more likely to say they love using Snapchat, compared with Millennials in the Western U.S., a CivicScience study conducted in July 2014.