Did you know Social Media Research Dominates Buying Decisions as TikTok Becomes Top Platform for Product Discovery

 

IZEA’s 2025 Trust in Influencer Marketing report is here and there are a few stats about consumers’ trust in influencers and how they impact brand engagement and purchase decisions in the Creator Economy. The report is based on a survey of 1,000 American consumers, and it was found that 77% of the consumers prefer content made by influencers rather than content based on scripted ads. 86% of the consumers also said that they prefer searching on social media platforms before buying a product. People between the ages of 45-60 were more likely to search for a product to see what people are talking about before deciding to buy it.

When the respondents were asked how they search for a product before making a purchase decision, most of them answered TikTok. 53% of respondents between 45-60 years, 52% of respondents between 18-29 years and 47% of the respondents from 30-44 years were most likely to search a product on TikTok before buying it. It was followed by YouTube and Instagram. Most of the respondents with age 60 and above said that they ask their family and friends about the product before they decide to make a purchase online. Tiktok and Instagram saw massive growth as platforms for product research, with 42% and 41% respondents using them for product research in 2024 respectively. Product research on YouTube also saw some increase, from 31% in 2023 to 38% in 2024. On the other hand, asking family and friends about the product before purchasing it has declined.

Respondents were also asked which type of advertising is more likely to make them buy a new product. 35% of the respondents each from age groups 18-24 and 30-44 were more likely to get products after seeing the advertisement on influencer posts. On the other hand, respondents from age groups 45-60 (38%) and above 60 (43%) are more likely to purchase the product after seeing its advertisement on the television. Paid social ads and magazines do not really influence respondents into purchasing the product. 79% of the respondents also said that they have purchased a product after seeing it being used by an influencer, with 89.2% people from ages 45-60 more likely to do it. Over the years, influencer-inspired changes have seen some growth across all age groups.

As there are many social media shopping platforms like TikTok shop and Instagram Shopping, 77% of the respondents said that they have purchased from these social media platforms in 2024. Only 45% of the respondents did so in 2023. 73% of the respondents of ages 45-60 said that they have purchased from social media shopping platforms multiple times, followed by 62% of the respondents from ages 30-44. 85% of the respondents also said that they trust a sponsored post from an influencer more than from an A-list celebrity. There was a 26% increase in consumer’s trust in influencers in 2024 as compared to 2023. When respondents were asked why they trust influencer recommendations over celebrities, they answered that authenticity, recommendation history, product demonstration, transparency, category expertise and engagement make them trust influencers more.

The report also showed the platforms most used by 30+ respondents with Facebook being at top with 92% of them using it in 2024, followed by YouTube (77%), Instagram (64%), TikTok (43%) and X (42%). The top platform most used by people of ages 18-29 was YouTube (82%) followed by Instagram (73%), Facebook (69%), TikTok (58%) and X (39%). TikTok, Instagram and X are seeing a rise in their usage, even though Facebook and YouTube are still dominating. As compared to 2021, TikTok usage has increased a lot in the last three years, with the largest growth seen in people with ages 45-60.