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Does ‘Liking’ a brand drive user loyalty?

February 08, 2012 | Online Marketing

When it comes to Facebook “likes,” social network users are sending brand marketers mixed signals. Although a new study suggests more than half of consumers are agreeable toward purchasing from the brands on Facebook, consumer behavior suggests otherwise.

When it comes to Facebook “likes,” social network users are sending brand marketers mixed signals. An eVoc Insights study indicates 59% of Facebook users have “liked” a Facebook brand or company page in the past six months. Although this statistic may seem promising for brands, how “liking” a brand connects with consumer loyalty is still vague.

When surveyed by eVoc, 54% of users who “liked” a brand or company page on Facebook that sells a product or service said they were somewhat or much more likely to purchase from that brand. The study confirms that the most “liked” pages are for food brands, TV shows, music, movies and clothing.

Although the eVoc Insight statistic suggests more than half of consumers are agreeable toward purchasing from the brands on Facebook, consumer behavior suggests otherwise. According to a study from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, an Australia-based marketing think tank, just 1% of fans of the biggest brands on Facebook engage with the brands on the site. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute study looked at Facebook metrics for the top 200 brands, and through an examination of activities such as “likes,” comments, posts and shares, the research group found nothing substantial to link a brand’s Facebook presence with loyalty.

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