A new survey of more than 1,000 consumers found the vast majority (75 percent) clicked on product links posted and "liked" by friends. From there, more than half wound up making spur-of-the-moment purchases.
You can bank on the fact that most of those purchases were made by millennials, who put more faith in ratings on Yelp! and those little Facebook 'thumbs up' icons than their own parents – a behavior experts have dubbed "Social Proofing."
And businesses are taking note.
The old days of credit lenders' companies sending representatives to campuses with a clipboard and a few t-shirts are all but done. Instead, major players team up with Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to attract younger customers. For example, you'd be hard-pressed to find a FourSquare check-in deal that doesn't include a $5 discount for using your American Express card.
Apart from the temptation to overspend or make unwise credit decisions, there's increased concern over how our social shopping habits can put us at risk for identity theft.
[InvestingAnswers Feature: Your Facebook Profile Could Be Bad For Your Job]
Of more than 11 million identity theft victims in 2011, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook users reported the most incidents of fraud, according to Javelin Research.
The problem: More than 60 percent shared their high school name, 18 percent listed their phone number and another 12 percent posted about their pet by name – all of which can be easily used to breach online banking security.
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