The opinions of peers have always held sway over our purchasing decisions. In previous generations, we would gather in marketplaces, congregating around busy stalls to exchange opinions or experiences we had about local merchants. We listened to neighbors at the community store to hear why they preferred one product over the other.
This was our social media.
Today, we live in a much different world of mobile devices, connected homes, and the Internet of Things — all acting as outside influences on our purchase decisions.
We can place our faith in the opinions of our peers based on the content they are producing online. This is our digital proxy for the 1-to-1 relationships of the past. However, in the new world that is increasingly dominated by e-commerce, consumer-generated content (CGC) provides more than just the digital proxy for the in-store shopping experience — it is the primary influence over our discovery, evaluation, purchase, and ongoing engagement.
