Facebook has become a highly attractive advertising medium, but effectiveness and how the channel works are still little understood. Metrics such as 'likes' are available but offer little insight. We believe that social media work differently to conventional ads, but just how do they work, and how well? this research used a new implicit test (iRt) developed by Cog to track effects from two social media campaigns for a major brand, and the effect of each in combination with mainstream TV advertising. the research took place within Facebook pages among users, and provided dramatic evidence of how effective social media campaigns could be, and how different approaches produced different outcomes.
This presentation is based on a study designed to follow people as they made an important purchase decision - their next new car. The presenters found very different approaches and behaviours, and were able to track the real effect of ads (greater), influence of test drives (less, but with huge potential), importance of word of mouth, dealers and online research. New buyer typologies emerged, and the purchase funnel model was finally discredited. This project has wider implications for anyone conducting purchase process research or planning to target buyers of higher ticket goods.