Seeing Social through the Millennial Mindset: Teen Vogue Unveils Research Identifying the Role Social Media Plays in the Retail Shopping Experience

NEW YORK, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In order to understand how social media impacts the ways millennials shop, Teen Vogue—the leading monitor of millennial fashion and beauty enthusiasts in America—has identified the role social plays in driving beauty and fashion trial and purchase.

For millennials, social media is a path within a path to buy—the multichannel shopper now uses social media to do more than just share. She actively participates in the content created not just by peers but also by marketers to inform her purchasing decisions.

Teen Vogue's "Seeing Social" survey explores the role social media plays in the beauty and fashion decision-making process, identifying where, how, and why they engage with social.

According to the Survey:

SOCIAL "SHOWROOMING" IS AN EMERGING SHOPPING RESOURCE
Social media delivers more than wish-list window shopping—it is, essentially, a social-purchasing path for girls that leverages each platform's strength and point of engagement to enhance the shopping process. 85% of respondents have been driven to purchase something after seeing it on a social media network—but the storefront of a posting is just the beginning. Young women take a three-part path on social before transaction:

1. See It:
Instagram is the number one platform that inspires respondents to purchase       

2. Search It:
When respondents find a fashion or beauty brand they like on social media, they search YouTube videos of how best to wear or apply the product (52%)

3. Shop It:
Before purchase, they engage in "comparison shopping" on social media platforms. By platform, top behaviors include the following:

• Find additional product images: Pinterest (48%)     
• Read reviews and recommendations: YouTube (43%)
• Seek out sales/deals: Facebook (36%)

Emerging Trend: Adoption of Social Commerce

• 1 in 4 respondents (26%) have made a purchase directly from a social network
• 47% would like to see social networks provide the ability to purchase a product they're viewing directly from the network's feed

THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL
Influential young women are seeking to maximize technology's ability to personalize engagement. They want social media to bring them closer to the products and brands they're seeing on their screens, seamlessly translating the digital experience to a bricks-and-mortar transaction. 

When asked what they would like to see more of from fashion and beauty brands on social media: 

• 81% said more product sampling 
• 65% said "Tell me where the closest store is to buy the product I'm looking at"
• 56% said "Post more looks and products that make sense for where I live"

According to respondents, the future belongs to Instagram. It is the platform most cited as the one that "everyone will be talking about next year," and the clear must-have app this year:

"If you had to pick just one social network to use, what would it be?"
#1: Instagram 

"What is the social network you'll be talking about in the coming year?"
#1: Instagram

Fielded March 4–11 2014, the survey generated 1,074 responses from Teen Vogue's It Girl community, composed of a U.S. sample of young women, ages 13–29. The survey was developed by Teen Vogue's in-house consumer insights group, Teen Vogue Think Tank, and executed by Vision Critical, a market research firm based in Vancouver, BC. 

About Teen Vogue
Teen Vogue, a Conde Nast publication, a division of Advance Publications, which operates in 25 countries, is the number one source of fashion and beauty news for style-conscious teens and twentysomethings everywhere. In the United States, Conde Nast publishes 18 consumer magazines, two trade publications, and 27 websites that garner international acclaim and unparalleled consumer engagement. The Teen Vogue brand brings the sophistication and authority of Vogue to a new generation of savvy young women who desire to be on the cutting edge of fashion, beauty, and culture. Launched in February 2003, Teen Vogue publishes ten issues a year and has a circulation of more than 1,000,000 readers.

To obtain a copy of the full study and/or to request an interview, please contact Erin Kaplan ([email protected]), 212.286.2479.

Press Contact:
Erin Kaplan
Teen Vogue
212.286.2479
[email protected]

SOURCE Teen Vogue