Friends' recommendations are not the biggest INFLUENCER

While there's a lot of literature about word of mouth being a powerful form of recommendation, when it came to influencing how students spend their money, this was not to be the case. Even though they get the majority of their financial support from their parents, students are not influenced by their family's advice when it comes to buying goods, particularly expensive items. Instead, students place most emphasis on the brand or label, then followed by advertising as well as the advice of their friends. This, according to the latest SA Student Spending Report.




Surprisingly, social media sites like facebook have little sway on student's buying behaviour. It's important that we don't exclude social media as a channel after hearing this, because they may not be being utilised correctly. Relaying this back to the previous research conducted on how students consume social media, 90% of students use the internet for social purposes a few times a week, and sites like facebook account for a significant percentage of this online usage. But the research also revealed that many students WERE comfortable receiving advertisements on social networking sites based on their profile activities, and that brands SHOULD create special applications or provide unique content on social networking sites.