Study Finds That Twice as Many Consumers Are Posting Comments about Consumer Affairs Departments on Social Media Sites Compared to Last Year

Study Polls 28,000 Consumers

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The percentage of consumers who posted a negative or positive comment about their interaction with a Consumer Affairs Department has doubled in one year, compared to the same study conducted a year ago. The study was sponsored by The Center For Client Retention.

That’s one of the key findings in the 2nd Annual Social Media Benchmarking Study, conducted by The Center For Client Retention (TCFCR). Twenty companies (a combination of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies) provided information on their social media policies to see how it compared with their consumers’ expectations and behaviors. The study included feedback from 28,000 consumers about their use and impressions of social media platforms.

“This is a significant finding for the 20 companies and reinforces the value of investing more heavily in customer service. 54% of the postings were positive, compared to 23% being negative, with the primary driver of negative postings being related to the product itself and not the service delivery by the representative,” states Richard Shapiro, President, The Center For Client Retention and author of the soon-to-be-published book titled The Service Genie: Getting The Service You Wish For.

Study Highlights

• While the percentage of consumers using social media remained consistent at 60%, 54% of the respondents said their social media usage had increased in the past year, compared to 11% who said it decreased;
• Overall, 36% of the respondents said they are following companies/brands on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. or have them on their friends list. There was a variance by age demographic, with 53% of consumers who were 40 years old or younger following companies/brands compared to 18% for respondents who were 55 years of age or older; and
• When consumers were asked how social media has influenced their purchasing decisions, 24% said they will consider purchasing a product after seeing a positive post, and 15% said they will stop buying a product after reading a negative comment on a social media site.

“The data collected from this study clearly demonstrates the power and influence of social media on consumer purchasing habits. Companies have an opportunity to significantly increase their revenues by providing excellent service with more and more consumers posting positive comments about their interactions. Conversely, companies can easily damage their brands by not providing good service that demonstrates to the consumer that their business is welcomed, appreciated and important,” says Shapiro. With such significant increases in the percentages in just one year, Shapiro is looking forward to the findings from TCFCR’s 3rd Annual Social Media Benchmarking Study, which is scheduled for September 2011.