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Twitter and Facebook influence our shopping habits: reports

Submitted by Brian Skepys on June 15, 2010 – 1:23 pm18 Comments

Social media channels are becoming a necessity for successful online sales performance as they are increasingly the first place shoppers turn for advice, two newly released reports by eMarketer and Nielsen show. In sum, a growing number of customers depend on Facebook and Twitter for their first impression of a brand, and many online shoppers won’t buy without a social shopping recommendation.

The report by eMarketer compared the attitudes of Twitter and Facebook users towards the most prominent brands in their lives. Most interesting points include that half of Twitter users use the channel to scope out recommendations for products they eventually buy online, and Facebook users increasingly enjoy interacting with their favorite brands as it makes them feel more loyal to the brand.

The Nielsen report, which looks across social networks and sits at the bottom of a press release about its joint venture with McKinsey, compliments these findings. It finds that over two-thirds of consumers look for a recommendation online before making a purchase, and that a whopping 40% of consumers wouldn’t even consider making a purchase without seeing an online review first.

Of course, both reports were quick to point out the staggering speed at which social networking sites are growing. Facebook is the top social networking site in the US with 1.25 million unique views a month, and it’s exponentially demanding our attention at work and at home as we do an average 6 hours of Facebooking a month.

What does this all mean? Online shopping is now social shopping. The growth of Facebook and Twitter and their integration into online shopping retailer sites means that consumers will be relying more and more on their friends’ recommendations, and that they will be considering the value of branded Facebook pages too, and the sentiment of commenting customers. But this runs both ways as P&G has found out in its fight to protect its Pampers Dry Max diaper brand from angry mommy bloggers.

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