posted by: jonathan

Facebook’s fan page application is an effective marketing tool that can increase sales, word-of-mouth marketing and customer loyalty among a subset of customers, according to new research from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. The study is featured in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review.

According to the study which surveyed 1,700 respondents over a three-month period, customers of the Dessert Gallery café chain who became Facebook fans:

* Made 36 percent more visits to DG's stores each month.
* Spent 45 percent more of their eating-out dollars at DG.
* Spent 33 percent more at DG's stores.
* Had 14 percent higher emotional attachment to the DG brand.
* Had 41 percent greater psychological loyalty toward DG.

Utpal Dholakia, associate professor of management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of business, cautioned that, “Facebook fan pages may work best as niche marketing programs targeted to customers who regularly use Facebook.”

• February 23rd, 2010
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• Tags: facebook, research social media, roi, social media