Study: Consumers are highly influenced by their friends

Sociable Labs just released their Social Impact Study, a 1088-person survey of online shoppers to understand the influence and impact of social sharing on consumer purchase.

Highlights from the study:

• 38% of online shoppers take action in Engaged Sharing (e.g. recommendation, Facebook share);
• 56% of online shoppers participate in Light Sharing (low friction sharing, e.g. Facebook Like)
• 62% of online shoppers have read product related comments from their friends on Facebook.
• 75% of shoppers who read social sharing comments have clicked on the product link in their friends’ Facebook posts, taking them to the product page on a retailer’s website.
• 53% of the shoppers who have clicked through to the retailer’s site have made a purchase.
• 81% of consumers who purchase products they learn about through social sharing are valuable social sharers themselves, thus creating a cycle of sharing and buying.

Social proofing is the activity of showing friends activities on a website is a powerful motivator for buying.

From the Sociable Labs study:

• 32% of visitors are more likely to stay and shop on a site that shows activities of shoppers who have purchased there, even when those shoppers are not their friends.
• 62% of visitors do so when the shared activities include the shopping behavior of the visitor’s friends
• 57% of shoppers are more likely to purchase on a site that shows their friends who have purchased on that site.

Further reading:

• 5 Reasons Why Facebook Drives Consumer Buying – Infographic @ jeffbullas.com
• Download "Social Impact Study" @ sociablelabs.com