Sites like Facebook have made it easier than ever to share mundane details of our lives with our entire networks. And yet, to the chagrin of marketing and PR agents everywhere, people are pretty reluctant to share their favourite products on Facebook. So what gives?
Well, according to a new study in the Journal of Customer Psychology, people don’t recommend brands on Facebook due to social pressure. Surveying over 400 people, researchers found that users didn’t want to endorse products because of a perceived risk that they might embarrass themselves if their views were not also endorsed or shared by their friends—and given that the average Facebook user has hundreds of friends, this would almost certainly be the case.
According to the authors, “Our report shows that when it comes to sharing recommendations on products and services on these sites, users tend to stay quiet. They would rather communicate via word of mouth because many users don’t want to embarrass themselves online as work colleagues or acquaintances may not endorse or appreciate the same products that they do.”
