Referral facts & stats

Question 1

How much did consumers say they trust online opinions posted by other consumers, like reviews?

Accepted Answer

about 66%. Online consumer opinions ranked third in trust, just behind branded websites.

Question 2

According to a 2010 university study, referred customers generated about how much more in profit than non-referred customers?

Accepted Answer

about 16% more profit. The same study found referred customers were also about 25% more valuable overall to the business.

Question 3

In that same study, referred customers had about what chance of still being active after 33 months, versus 79.2% for non-referred customers?

Accepted Answer

about 82%. Referred customers weren't just more profitable initially, they also stuck around longer.

Question 4

A 2019 Harvard Business School study found referral programs that reward the recipient convert how much better than programs rewarding only the sender?

Accepted Answer

about 1.41-1.79 times more. Structuring a referral reward around the new customer, not just the referrer, tends to work better.

Referral facts & stats

Going deeper

How much did consumers say they trust online opinions posted by other consumers, like reviews?

Expert level

According to a 2010 university study, referred customers generated about how much more in profit than non-referred customers?

In that same study, referred customers had about what chance of still being active after 33 months, versus 79.2% for non-referred customers?

A 2019 Harvard Business School study found referral programs that reward the recipient convert how much better than programs rewarding only the sender?