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How Does Social Media Impact Consumer Purchase Decisions

Consumer Purchase Decisions

Last Updated: March 2024

Social media platforms act as a connection between consumers and brands. Companies extensively use social media to promote products, services, and provide customer service.

A business (whether big or small) needs to be present on social media. But why is this presence so important for a business?

Because social media can influence consumer purchase decisions. How can we say this?

To know the impact of social media posts on consumers, we surveyed a large number of US-based consumers across various age groups and discovered that social media posts from companies (that they’re following on social platforms) influence consumer buying decisions as much as posts from their friends do.

We found that a significant proportion – 84% of consumers were influenced to buy a product or service after seeing their friends’ social media posts, and almost the same proportion – 83% of consumers were influenced by posts from the companies they’re following on social space.

So, for a business, pitching social media content to consumers can be a powerful strategy to drive consumer buying decisions.

Key Takeaways

Purchase Decisions

The proportion of consumers influenced by social media posts:

  • 84% of consumers’ purchasing decisions were moderately to highly influenced by their friends’ social media posts.
  • 83% of consumers’ purchasing decisions were moderately to highly influenced by social media posts from the ‘companies’ they’re following.

Why do consumers “like or follow” a company’s social media profile?

  • 86% of consumers would “like” a company’s Facebook page if it offers discounts and incentives on the products.
  • 79% of consumers would “like” a brand’s Facebook page if it posts details on sales and other events.
  • 70% of consumers would “like” a brand’s Facebook page because they like to share things with their friends.

    Impact Of Social Media Posts By ‘Friends’ and ‘Businesses’

    Social media posts by ‘friends’ and ‘followed brands’ on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc., influenced a large percentage of consumers to purchase, as indicated by our study. To be precise, we asked them a few questions that are as follows:

    How do social media posts from your ‘friends’ impact your purchasing decisions?

    The study revealed that social media posts by friends impact consumer buying decisions the most.

    Purchase Decisions

    A large proportion – 84% of consumers were significantly swayed to purchase by social media posts from friends, emphasizing strong influence.

    While a much smaller proportion – Only 16% reported no influence from friends’ social media posts on their purchasing decisions, revealing significant impact for most.

    How do social media posts from the companies you follow on social media impact your purchasing decisions?

    Purchase Decisions

    Even here, a large majority – 83% of consumers said that their purchasing decisions were moderately to highly influenced after they saw posts from the businesses they follow on social media.

    On the other hand, just 17% of consumers said that social media posts from the brands they follow didn’t impact their purchase decisions at all.

    So, company-driven social media content is an influential factor that can drive consumer buying decisions.

    Not only this, but most consumers use social media to voice complaints about brands, facilitating widespread customer feedback. As per our Twitter consumer engagement survey, 7 out of 10 consumers expect the company (they’ve complained about) to read their tweets. So, a company must provide customer service on social media.

    On analyzing the age groups of those surveyed, we discovered that a large majority of younger consumers (aged below 54) were highly impacted by social media posts (from friends or the brands they follow on social platforms) compared to the older ones (aged above 54).

    Purchase Decisions

    Key findings related to age groups:

    • The largest majority – 9 out of 10 shoppers aged 35-44 were influenced to buy a product or service after they saw posts from their friends or the brands they’re following on social platforms.

    • Social media posts least influenced buying decisions for older consumers (aged 54+). Around 69% of consumers aged above 54 were influenced by social posts from friends or followed businesses on social platforms.

    • Purchasing decisions of a greater proportion of younger consumers (aged 18-24) were influenced by social media posts from companies they’re following on social platforms, compared to posts from their friends. Social media posts from companies influenced 85% of shoppers aged 18-24 to make purchases, while a slightly smaller proportion—80%—were influenced by posts from friends.
    •  

    Offer Them Value, They Would Like You!

    Most of the new age businesses face challenges gaining social media followers and engagement, striving for likes and follows.

    “Likes or follows” on a business’s social profile signify authenticity and reliability, serving as crucial metrics in the digital realm.

    Through our survey, we inquired about factors influencing consumers to “follow or like” a company’s social media profile.

    To get the best and specific results, we focused our research on one of the biggest social media platforms – Facebook.

    They like to be informed about sales and events.

    When we asked them – “If a business posts details on ‘sales’ or other events on their Facebook page, would you “like” their Facebook page?”

    A significant proportion – 79% of consumers said, “Yes, I would “like” a brand’s Facebook page if it posts about sales and other events on its Facebook page.”

    On the other hand, only 21% of consumers said that they wouldn’t “like” a brand’s Facebook page if it posts about sales and other similar events.

    It appears that a majority of consumers want companies to remind them about sales and other events on their Facebook page. Below is a great example of Amazon’s Facebook page.

 

A post about ‘prime day’ sale on Amazon’s Facebook page.

Discounts and incentives are most ‘liked’ by consumers.

Who doesn’t like discounts? Our study revealed that consumers like social media posts from a company about ‘discounts and incentives’ the most.
When we asked consumers – “If a business offers you discounts and other incentives on their products through their Facebook page, would you “like” their Facebook page?”

The majority – 86% of consumers would be happy to see posts on a business’s Facebook page about ‘discounts and incentives’ on the products and services it offers and would “like” the Facebook page too.

On the other hand, just 14% of consumers said that discounts and incentives don’t matter to them and they won’t “like” a brand’s Facebook page even if it offers discounts and incentives on its Facebook page.

Also read: What is Post Purchase Survey: Complete Guide

They like to share posts with friends.

The survey suggests that consumers “like” a business’s Facebook page that posts shareable content on its Facebook page.

When we asked them, “Would you “like” the Facebook page of a business, simply because you like sharing your favorite things with your friends?”, almost 7 out of 10 consumers responded with a ‘yes’.

On the other hand, 30% of consumers won’t like a Facebook page just because they like to share content with their friends.

So, consumers are more likely to “like or follow” a business on social media platforms that offers value to them. For instance, information about relevant events, discounts, incentives, offers, or sharable content.

Bottom Line

After extracting data from the survey, we have to admit that social media is a dominant platform that marketers and business owners can use to influence consumers to make a purchase.

Hence, companies actively compete on social media, striving to build an audience influenced by their posts to drive future purchases.

So, it’s essential for a business, big or small, to be active on social media and constantly pitch quality content to its consumers.

But, it might not be advisable to post content just for the sake of it. Rather than posting content that does not offer value to the consumers, it would be better to try and come up with easy ideas that do. As our study indicated, consumers are more likely to “follow or like” a business’s profile or page on Facebook (or any other social media platform) if it offers them value and quality content.

Survey Details

The Helplama team surveyed 843 US-based consumers of various age groups to know the influence of social media on their purchase decisions and what types of posts they like to see from a company’s social media profile.

Gender

The survey consists of a fair equal proportion of men (50.8%) and women (49.2%).

Age groups

  • 18 – 24 (8.4%)
  • 25 – 34 (26.4%)
  • 35 – 44 (41%)
  • 45 – 54 (13%)
  • 54+ (11.2%)

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