A recent study of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace has attempted to understand the connection between online friends and buyer behaviour.
According to the Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge, the study found social media users can influence each others' buyer behaviour within some groups.
In encouraging news for marketers, those users who were identified as being 'moderately connected' with friends via social networks exhibited 'keep up with the Joneses' buyer behaviour.
However, the study suggested 'highly connected' users tend to stop purchasing a product when they notice their friends buying the same brand.
According to the article, the findings reflect fashion cycles where opinion leaders and early adopters tend to abandon trends when the masses come on board.
In summary, here are the key statistics from the study:
- 48 per cent of social media users are not 'well connected' and are unaffected by social pressure with regard to purchasing behaviour
- 40 per cent of users are 'moderately connected'; their actions are said to have a positive impact on friend's purchases
- 12 per cent of users are 'well connected'; members of this group seek to differentiate themselves from their friend's buying patterns
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