Facebook and Twitter symbols increase a person's likelihood of buying a product online, according to a study released Thursday by the University of Miami's School of Business .
Experts of the study deduced that the social media icon has a subconscious influence on buyers.
“Marketers should be aware that the placement of these symbols in their web design strategy could have a major impact on buying behavior,” the study quoted Claudia Townsend, an assistant professor at the school, as saying.
The study measured the likelihood of 200 online shoppers to buy products that had a social media symbol nearby and products without one.
It found that people are 25 percent more likely to buy a product with a social media icon. If the product was something many would find embarrassing, such as women's compression underwear, people were 25 percent more likely to buy the product without the media icon, the study found.
“Our study finds that the mere presence of social media icons on a web page where we shop appears to cause us to feel as if our purchases are being watched by our social network, and we adjust our buying decisions accordingly,” said Townsend.
