When I saw the headline: ‘Americans Say Social Media Have Little Sway on Purchases. Vast majority use social media to connect with friends, family’, I was, to put it mildly, intrigued.

After all, a lot of brands and businesses are pouring resources into connecting with people on social networks. A lot of agencies and consultants are, too.

Couple that with the fact that the report was based on a survey by the venerable Gallop organization and I was curious about the results.

First the good news
Companies that engage with their customers in an authentic way, rather than just using social media to sell, can encourage them to help spread the word.

Many of us already knew that.  But a little reinforcement is a good thing.

Now the data
The big insight – or really, the angle used to grab people’s attention – is this: ‘62% in the U.S. say Facebook and Twitter, among other sites, do not have any influence on their decisions to purchase products.’

Judging from the coverage it’s been getting, it’s certainly accomplished that goal.

However, if you dig deeper into how the responses vary by demographics, you get a different picture.

Essentially, the older folks who were always skeptical about social media still aren’t giving it much of a chance – or aren’t admitting to it yet.

Here’s the breakdown: Traditionalists (75%), Boomers (68%) and Gen X (57%) say social media has no effect on what they buy.

On the flip side, half of Millennials, say social media affects does affect their purchase decisions (and so do 40% of Gen X).

What does that say?
It reinforces the very real media/communications generation gap we’re living through and shows that too many people in my generation and older refuse to see life through anyone’s lens but their own. For brands, media, marketers and communicators, it’s yet another call to action that what worked in the past is less effective and innovation must continue.

And it’s a reminder to watch and listen to Millennials and how they use and interact with social and tech. That’s where we’ll see the sparks that lead to new ideas.

Now, being in PR, I don’t begrudge Gallop an attention-grabbing headline. But I think they should be a bit more mindful of spin.

And they could have dug deeper into the results and sliced and diced the data to offer fresh insights. Rather than holding up a mirror that simply reflects the shaky way things are, they could have shed a light on where we’re heading and what that could mean to marketers in the not too distant years to come.

What do you think? Does social media have any effect on your decision to purchase?

About Martin Waxman

Martin Waxman, MCM, is a digital communications strategist. He conducts AI research, leads digital and social media training workshops and speaks at events across North America. He's co-founder of two PR agencies, president of a consultancy and has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Martin is a LinkedIn Learning instructor, teaches digital strategy and social media at McMaster University, the Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto SCS and Seneca College. He's a member of the Institute for Public Relations Digital Media Research Center and a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy. He has a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster-Syracuse Universities.

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