How Are Consumers Influenced by Referral Marketing?

As one of the world’s oldest market research firms, Nielsen’s Harris Poll Online has “analyzed every aspect of American life.” From consumer habits to television viewership to politics, Harris Poll is the gold-standard for conducting research. For instance, did you know that adults who were read to daily, or at least weekly, are more likely to report six-figure incomes? Harris Poll helps to answer the questions that we didn’t know we needed to know.

So, when the opportunity arose in early 2016 to partner with The Harris Poll Online to find out how Americans feel about referral marketing, we couldn’t pass it up. We surveyed 2,000 consumers and found out how valuable referrals are to the general population. 

What did our study reveal about word-of-mouth? 

Not only did we confirm our theory about the importance of word-of-mouth and referral marketing, we received broad and granular feedback. For example, 82% of Americans say they seek recommendations from friends and family when considering a purchase. And did you know that 56% of American women aged 18-34 seek recommendations about beauty products? Or that parents in the United States ask for recommendations before purchasing a product 90% of the time?

We pulled together the data to showcase some of our favorite (and most important) stats below. You’ll notice that all of the statistics have one thing in common, that they speak to the importance of referral marketing software. Referral software can increase new customers and sales, while creating a new stream of revenue for businesses of all sizes. 

 Do you want to learn how to turn more of your customers, partners, affiliates, and fans into revenue generators?Request a custom demo from one of our referral marketing software experts today!