Survey: Nearly One Third of Consumers Have Been Swayed by Social Influencers to Purchase a Product or Service
December 14 2017 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
Olapic’s New “Psychology of Following” Report
Details How Consumers Define Influencers, Why They Follow and How
They Act on Recommendations
Social influencers increasingly have greater impact on consumer
brand awareness and purchase considerations, as 31 percent of
consumers across the U.S. and Europe said they have purchased a
product or service based on a social influencer post. This finding
came from the new “Psychology of Following” survey, commissioned by
Olapic and conducted by CITE Research. The survey polled 4,000
active social media consumers ages 16-61, across the U.S., U.K.,
France and Germany, to better understand the psychology behind why
consumers follow, listen to and trust social media influencers and
how they act on those recommendations.
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“Through our extensive work with brands, we’ve found that
influencer content is most resonant and powerful when influencers
apply their own expertise, style and creativity – without heavy
brand influence,” said Pau Sabria, co-founder, Olapic. “Brands
understand social influencers are essential to helping build brand
equity, engagement and sales. And, consumers are more astute when
they are marketed to – both directly and indirectly by the brand –
which is why it’s no surprise that this study found that
authenticity is the single-most important factor to ‘following’ an
influencer.”
Results of the “Psychology of Following” study uncovered a
variety of interesting insights around following behavior,
important attributes of an influencer and preferred platforms.
Definition and Behaviors of an Influencer
When asked to define what qualifies as a social influencer:
- 53 percent of total respondents said
it’s someone who has more than 10,000 followers;
- German respondents had a higher
threshold, with 34 percent of respondents suggesting an influencer
has 50,000 or more followers.
- 42 percent said it is someone brands
engage to help promote their products and services; and
- Only 21 percent classified these
influencers as someone “famous.”
When asked to describe how the behavior of influencers is
different from that of average social media users:
- 42 percent of respondents said
influencers share more information;
- 39 percent said they have higher
quality posts; and
- 31 percent said they use more ads in
their posts.
Authenticity or Bust
Authenticity is the most important factor when it comes to
following influencers and trusting their endorsements.
- 43 percent of respondents said
authenticity was the top reason to “trust” an influencer;
- 39 percent said it was important for
the influencer to show any “endorsed” product in use; and
- 39 percent said the expertise of the
influencer would make them trust the endorsement.
Content and Platform Preferences
According to the survey, Images and video content are the most
preferred types of influencer content while Facebook, Instagram and
YouTube were the most favored platforms for following
influencers.
- 33 percent of respondents said videos
with sound in their feeds (as opposed to stories) is their favorite
type of content;
- 25 percent of respondents said still
images in their feeds was their preferred content;
- However, 35 percent of 19-24 year-olds
listed still images in a feed as their preferred content.
- Followers primarily turn to visual
platforms like Instagram and Snapchat to find influencers in
Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle.
- Within the Beauty segment, followers
placed the highest importance on the aesthetic of visuals (25
percent) and informative content (22 percent) as to why they follow
influencers in this market;
- 27 percent of followers said they
wanted to be “inspired” by the content that Fashion influencers
post; and
- Lifestyle segment followers said that
inspirational content (24 percent) and authenticity of content (23
percent) were the most important factors in determining influencers
within this market.
Taking Action Based on Influencer Content
Social influencers are increasingly prompting consumers to
consider purchasing a product or service, particularly in the U.S.
and U.K.
- 44 percent of all respondents said they
have considered purchasing a product or service based on a social
influencer post;
- 31 percent said they have already
purchased a product or service based on an influencer post;
and
- 24 percent said they have recommended a
product or service based on an influencer post.
For information about Olapic, or to request more information or
view an infographic about the “Psychology of Following” report,
visit: www.olapic.com.
About Olapic
Olapic is an innovator in visual content solutions for
user-generated, influencer-generated, and brand-generated visual
content. Through a unique combination of technology, content, and
expertise, Olapic enables brands to generate, curate, enhance, and
distribute authentic, brand-relevant visual content across the
entire customer journey driving brand engagement and performance,
at scale, for hundreds of the world’s top brands. An official
member of Facebook Marketing Partner program, Instagram Partner
program and Pinterest Partners, Olapic is headquartered in New York
City with offices in Berlin, Córdoba, Hong Kong, London, Los
Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. For more information on Olapic, visit
www.olapic.com. Olapic is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monotype
Imaging Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TYPE).
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MonotypeAndy Rodgerandy.rodger@monotype.com
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