The value of the green referral (A My Pizza Personality case study)
The non-commercial My Pizza Personality project set out to see if pizza purchasers are concerned about the environment, and whether environmental people eat pizza. While we wait for that answer, check out which group is most likely to pass on your message.
The My Pizza Personality research survey asks questions about personality, environmental beliefs, and purchasing intention towards pizza. At the end of the research, people are given the opportunity to share the survey with others through email, Facebook, and Twitter.
Out of the 750 responses so far, the two broad groups are split up as:
- those who buy pizza more than occasionally (48% of all responses); and
- those who have strong beliefs about protecting the environment (25% of all responses).
Environmental versus pizza referrals and conversions
Let’s say I paid $1,000 for a mailing list to get my 750 results (I didn’t, but let’s just say I did).
That means I paid $1.33 for every response. Except some of those responses I didn’t have to pay for due to people referring on to their friends.
In that 750, 360 are pizza purchasers (48%), who emailed to 32 people (9% of the pizza purchasers), of which just over 3 took the survey (10% of those emailed). This resulted in $4.32 worth of responses I would not have had to pay for (3 * $1.32).
Around 187 (25%) of the 750 have strong environmental beliefs. They sent to 88 friends (47% of the environmentalists), almost 23 took the survey (26% of those emailed), equating to a $30.55 hypothetical return (23 * $1.32).
That’s a lot of numbers and words. For the more visually inclined, check out the diagram below:
Take away pizza thoughts
There are all sorts of assumptions we can make about why the environmental people (or others who hold onto an ideal or belief system) might be more inclined to pass on the pizza personality message. They may share with others to reinforce their own belief system, they may be more educated or altruistically inclined, or they may just be more likely to have friends who like pizza personality tests. Regardless, there is something to be said for intentionally identifying and engaging with groups who will be more inclined to pass on your message.
It is also important to note that while the environmental group were more likely to pass on the message, they are still only a fraction of the total number of pizza purchasers. 360 will always be larger than 187.
With this in mind, I will leave you with two tasty points to remember:
- Find your niche champions; and
- Don’t neglect your larger core audience.
tasty!