Report: Heavy Radio Listeners Have Plenty of Brand Conversations

Word-of-mouth is a powerful purchase influencer, said to drive almost one-fifth of consumer sales. Identifying everyday consumer influencers is important for brands, and as recent research [download page] from Engagement Labs and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) reveals, heavy radio listeners have an above-average likelihood to be such influencers.

An “everyday influencer” is defined in the study as “the one in 10 consumers who are sought out for their advice and whose recommendations are heeded.” Heavy radio listeners (2+ hours per day on weekday or weekend) are 25% more likely than the average person to be everyday consumer influencers, per the study’s findings, while also being 23% more likely than heavy TV viewers and 4% more likely than heavy social media users to be influential in this way.

What’s more, heavy radio listeners tend to have plenty of conversations about brands. In analyzing a cross-section of consumers ages 13-69 from August 2022 to July 2023 – and in so doing collecting roughly 38,000 interviews – Engagement Labs projects that heavy radio listeners have an aggregate of 4.7 billion brand conversations per week. That outpaces the aggregate number projected for heavy social media users (3.8 billion), heavy TV viewers (2.6 billion), heavy newspaper readers (2.6 billion) and heavy magazine readers (2.4 billion).

Perhaps it’s something about audio? Previously, Engagement Labs has found that heavy podcast listeners have the highest per-person average conversations about brands each week.

So what types of brands are heavy radio listeners talking about? Per the analysis, the number of projected weekly brand conversations is highest for Food and Dining (552 million), followed by Media and Entertainment (533 million), Beverages (474 million), Shopping, Retail and Apparel (425 million) and Sports (345 million).

When it comes to category influencers, heavy radio listeners are much more likely than heavy TV viewers to be Children’s Product influencers as well as Beauty and Personal Care influencers. When compared to heavy social media users, they stand out in their greater likelihood to be Household Products influencers and Financial influencers.

Finally, an estimated 51% of brand conversations among heavy radio listeners result in intent to purchase, per the report, slightly exceeding the national average. The analysis points out that radio outperforms the average in this regard the most for Auto, Sports, Telecom, and Technology.