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

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 2^nd 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 3^rd Annual Social Media Benchmarking Study, which is scheduled for September 2011.

The Center For Client Retention

The Center For Client Retention (TCFCR) delivers targeted, actionable and cost efficient research that allows their clients to better assess customer satisfaction, loyalty and consumer trends and translate that information into tools to retain customers and grow their business. Additionally, TCFCR provides tools to Fortune 100 and 500 companies to remain connected to their customers on an ongoing basis to ensure they both meet their expectations and remain visible within their evolving communication channels. The four divisions that comprise TCFCR include: Comprehensive Feedback Intelligence, which conducts in-depth telephone interviews, mystery shopper calls/emails, and customized research; Benchmarking Insights, which provides comparative data for social media behaviors, consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and a connection index for sales/service associates; Small Business Division, which conducts research for small and medium-sized companies and ENTREVISTA, which services the global and multi-cultural markets.

For more information, log on to www.tcfcr.com.