Christmas shoppers trust social networking for gift inspiration

Published 15th December 2009

December 16th, 2009, Birmingham – More than a quarter of consumers highly value their friends’ recommendations via social networking sites when shopping for Christmas gifts, according to a survey of 393 Christmas shoppers by Empathica, a customer experience management expert.

Recommendations from friends via social networking sites was perceived as more valued than information provided by an expert on a review website (24%), advertising on TV (20%), information on company websites (17%) and articles in the media (16%).

The survey found that 27 per cent of shoppers rated a recommendation from a friend through Facebook or a similar website as the second most valuable source of information after traditional word of mouth (50%) when choosing to buy a gift.

Gary Topiol, Managing Director, Empathica, said, “Consumers like to share experiences with each other and social networking sites provide a new way to evaluate and understand products alongside traditional word of mouth. These results show that shoppers are using social networking to gain insight into goods or services and retailers cannot afford to ignore this channel of communication.”

Topiol added, “We have found that since the launch of GoRecommend, our Facebook application that our customers have already seen more than 5,000 positive brand impressions generated daily. This offers an automatic way to provide a retailer’s brand with sincere, fresh and relevant content on its site, which customers find fun and rewarding.”


About Empathica

Empathica surveyed 393 high street shoppers online between 23rd and 25th November.

Empathica provides Customer Experience Management programs to more than 200 of the world’s leading brands, ranging from multi-unit retailers, to banks and restaurants. Its rich analysis of survey data using state-of-the-art surveying and dashboard reporting software allows for performance-improvement solutions, evidence-based marketing insights, and customer experience management consulting. Annually, Empathica’s 30 million customer surveys in 17 languages reach more than 70,000 locations. A privately-held organization, Empathica is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and also has offices in Birmingham, England and Alpharetta, GA, in the United States. For more information about deriving actionable insights that enhance a brand’s operational excellence, visit Empathica at www.empathica.com.


More information:

Tanya Pring Gary Topiol
Fieldworks Marketing Empathica
Tel: (+44) 1435 873080 gtopiol@empathica.com
tanya@fieldworksmarketing.co.uk