Consumers who click on affiliate links frequently spend more and represent a more qualified demographic than the Internet shopping audience at large, according to a new study by comScore Networks.
The study, commissioned by DoubleClick Inc.’s performance marketing division, Performics, determined that affiliate shoppers are 17% more likely than the average Internet shopper to have average household income greater than $75,000. Affiliate consumers also were 43% more likely to convert online than consumers directed by other referrals, defined as all activity that did not come directly to the merchant site or arrive via affiliate link, the study found.
“Affiliate marketing, the oft unsung workhorse of online marketing, has been one of the most dependable, consistent and predictable merchant customer acquisition channels since the large ‘90s,” says Chris Henger, vice president of affiliate marketing at Performics. “This research essentially provides the industry with a data-driven, third-party profile of the affiliate consumers.”
In other findings, the study determined that affiliate shoppers skew older than the total Internet population and are 4% more likely to have children in their households than the typical Internet shopper. Of those consumers who did purchase through the affiliate channel, their average order value was higher than that of the general Internet user.
The data were drawn from 63 merchant sites with active affiliate marketing programs across the three major affiliate marketing networks and 19 large affiliate publisher sites.
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