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Rice U: Facebook Fan Pages CAN Grow Your Business

An article in the March 2010 issue of the Harvard Business Review reports on the findings of a Rice University study on the effectiveness of Facebook Fan Pages.

Researchers Utpal M. Dholakia and Emily Durham set out to answer the question: "How much do businesses really influence consumers when they launch pages on [Facebook] to attract 'fans' and to pepper them with messages and offers?"

Dholakia Durham partnered with Desert Gallery ("DG"), a popular Houston-based bakery which did not have a Facebook Fan page at the outset of the study. They conducted a survey of Desert Gallery's customers before and then three months after setting up a Facebook Fan Page for the bakery. In the course of those three months, Desert Gallery updated its page several times a week with pictures, reviews, news and employee profiles.

The follow-up survey of 1700 customers revealed that Desert Gallery's 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.

The researchers are quick to point out that their results "suggest intriguing possible correlations rather than definitive causalities".

Nevertheless, food for thought...