Does social influence impact purchasing behavior?

Understanding the Importance of Social Influence on Purchase Decisions

Think back to the age-old: If your friends were jumping off a bridge would you jump too? According to new research on social media influence you would jump. Research published by Harvard Business School professor Sunil Gupta in May 2009 proved that friends influence purchasing decisions on social networks. Dr. Gupta analyzed user behavior on the Korean Social Network Cyworld and discovered that there’s a significant and positive impact of friends’ purchases on the purchase probability of a user. That means that when a user buys something, he influences his friends to make a similar purchase too. More recent studies suggest that, on average, 42 percent of online adults rely on friends’ recommendations when deciding to buy a product or service, and 66 percent of adults tell friends about products that interest them. Clearly, social influence has a direct impact on purchasing behavior; although, how much depends on a variety of factors such as the platform, the type of purchase, and the users involved. Digital marketer, Shiv Singh, explains that the level of influence can be quite different for your product versus another. But whatever you do, don’t ignore this influence and the social influencers in your market because their role could be significant.

*Research and statistical data from Forrester Research