New Report Details How Social Media Influences Purchases

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September 17, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Many people think social media is all about tweeting things and playing FarmVille on Facebook, but there is much more to it, as social media can be instrumental in influencing the purchasing decisions of U.S. consumers. Before the creation of social media sites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook, people would utilize their social circle of friends to get advice and feedback about certain products and potential purchases. A recent report that was sponsored by Performics and published by ROI Research Inc., looks deeper into that data and gives insight as to which product verticals are most impacted by social media. The report is titled “S-Net (The Impact of Social Media),” and it contains a variety of useful stats that will help merchants in different product verticals decide how much emphasis they should place on social media as a means to drive online sales. The data from the report was generated via a 30-minute online survey that collected information from 3,000 U.S. respondents who access at least one social network regularly.

There were 11 verticals in total on the list, but some of them performed much better than others in terms of people seeking product advice and feedback. The automotive vertical had users who were very receptive to suggestions via social media, as 26% of people surveyed said they are likely to make an automotive purchase as a result of a recommendation from someone on a social network. Most people are not automotive experts, so it makes sense that they would seek out advice from those more knowledgeable about the best cars to purchase. Consumers also responded favorably to using social media to get advice before purchasing electronics and appliances. Despite this report coming from a small sample size of 3,000, the trends in social media influencing purchasing decisions are likely to continue, as more consumers seek quicker and more efficient ways to determine the best product to buy.