Just a few days ago, a study done by Jupiterresearch claimed that social and community networks have little impact influencing online retail sales.
Contrary to that report, however, a recent study released by JC Williams Group shows that social networks and other online community activities actually drive more people to buy stuff over the internet. This is said to be mostly rooted to buyers getting and exchanging opinions and insights from social networks to help them with their online shopping decisions.
According to the study, online shoppers are most likely to post a product review of their purchased merchandise to the internet, as opposed to those web users who do not shop online. This could only mean that as more people share about their experiences in various networks such as Bebo, Facebook, and Flickr, more people will potentially shop online as well.
“Consumers are increasingly turning to their online community or network for advice instead of traditional mass media,” said Jim Okamura, a senior partner at JC Williams. “It is indicative of the shift to an empowered consumer and the rapid fragmentation of media channels. It definitely presents a challenge for online marketers.”
The survey, sponsored by Visa and Yahoo Canada, took place between April 19 and 27. It included 1,500 online shoppers and 500 people who don’t shop online.
Originally posted on July 6, 2007 @ 12:12 pm
Well it’s not the first time that Jupiter has been wrong.. not the second time either…
To think that social media doesn’t drive consumer behaviour is ridiculous.