Facebook and other social media have made it possible for many consumers to quickly and easily support a charity, a government campaign or a brand. Many companies are happy when consumers support their campaigns or brands in this way – such small actions are the first step towards the actual purchase of products. But are these small actions really followed by buying products or financially supporting charities? How big is the chance that someone who likes a charity on Facebook will actually donate to the charity? Buy facebook likes from SmmStore and replicate your business sales quickly.
Commitment & consistency
Consumers have the need to act and appear consistent. This means that when a consumer has formed an opinion about an object or topic (such as a brand or a charity), he or she tends to behave in line with that opinion. So, when consumers express their opinion on social media (such as liking a charity), they feel the need to behave consistently with that opinion and will also support the charity financially.
This principle would work particularly well if consumers put such promises or statements on paper (because this can be verified at a later time) and make them in the presence of other people (because consumers especially want to appear consistent to others). Since actions on social media meet this requirement.
The contradiction examined
In several studies, they tested when small online acts of support subsequently lead consumers to support that charity or buy that product. It appears to be decisive whether these acts of support are initially done publicly (clearly visible to many other people) or privately.
Publicly taking social support actions leads to fewer financial contributions. The explanation for this is that consumers in public situations are mainly concerned with how they come across to other people. They want to leave a positive impression. Publicly supporting a charity or a popular brand is one way to do this. As a result, however, it is no longer necessary to actually make a financial contribution – the good impression has already been made.
These findings show that it is not very effective for companies and charities to set up campaigns that motivate consumers to become social fans of their brand or charity.
Private support
However, a support action that is taken in private, such as wearing a pink ribbon under your clothes or signing a petition via email, can have a positive effect on the extent to which consumers ultimately decide to provide financial support. When consumers are in private situations, they do not feel the need to make a good impression on other people. According to the researchers, what mainly plays a role is the need for consumers to behave consistently with their opinions and previous statements. If they then think positively about a charity or a brand, they will behave in line with this opinion and decide to support a charity or buy a product.
Individual approach
So consumers should primarily use a personal approach to become supporters of a company or charity. This could ensure that consumers will also provide financial support later on.
A second possibility is to explicitly ask consumers to put their own opinion first when they take a public action on Twitter, Facebook or other social media. The idea behind this method is that consumers then think more about the motivation to behave consistently than about the motivation to make a good impression on others.
In short, companies and charities only benefit from social media actions when consumers are motivated to think about what they really stand for.
