A new consumer survey from Sprout Social reveals that brand content on social media influences holiday purchase decisions for 89% of users, with promotional codes emerging as the most impactful content type at 47% engagement.

The Q4 2024 survey, conducted by market research firm Glimpse from September 27 to October 1, 2024, polled 2,068 consumers across the United States and the United Kingdom who maintain at least one social media account and follow at least five brands.

The study finds that influencer recommendations now rank as the top source of holiday gift inspiration at 47% across all respondents, rising from fifth place in Q4 2023. 

However, when it comes to direct purchase influence, regular user-generated content (37%) outperforms influencer posts (19%) and sponsored influencer content (20%).

Platform Preferences

While Instagram and Facebook remain the most-used platforms overall, TikTok and Snapchat see higher adoption among Gen Z users, with 78% and 77% respectively maintaining profiles on these platforms.

Direct messaging emerges as the predominant method for brand communication during the holiday season, with 70% of users who contact brands choosing this channel. Public methods like post comments (39%) and company tagging (30%) follow as secondary approaches.

While 34% of users visit company websites for product research and 30% complete purchases there, only 13% buy directly through social networks. When it comes to 2025, Facebook Shop leads planned social commerce usage at 39%, followed by TikTok Shop at 36% and Instagram Shop at 29%.

Consumer Trust

The survey shows that 63% of users somewhat trust social networks with personal data, while 22% express complete trust. 

Trust levels skew higher among U.S. respondents (26% complete trust) compared to UK respondents (17%) and among male users (27%) versus female users (17%).

Generation Z and Millennials demonstrate stronger confidence, with 28% and 29%, respectively, reporting complete trust, compared to 19% of Gen X and 10% of Baby Boomers. The study finds that 23% of Baby Boomers express no trust in social networks’ data protection.

The survey reveals that 60% of social media users would pay premium prices for products with positive social media buzz, with 22% strongly agreeing. This willingness varies by region, with 26% of U.S. respondents strongly agreeing, compared to 17% of UK respondents.

Forecasts

Looking toward 2025, 40% of respondents prioritize personalized customer service as their top request for brand social media activity, followed by direct social platform selling (29%) and inter-company collaborations (24%).

Platform engagement forecasts for 2025 show similar increased usage planned for Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok (29-34% each). However, 24% of respondents indicate no plans to increase usage of any social networks.

The research methodology included equal geographic distribution between the U.S. (1,034 respondents) and the UK (1,034 respondents), with representation across age groups: 18-24 (335), 25-40 (661), 41-56 (608), and 57-75 (464). Gender distribution comprised 987 male and 1,081 female respondents.

The full report is available at Sprout Social.