Social Login Preferred to Site Registration
According to the Janrain Social Identity study, conducted by Blue Research, consumer frustration at being asked to register on a website continues to grow, and almost eight in ten people want social login to be offered as an alternative.
The research shows that marketers have a clear opportunity to increase conversion rates and online engagement by replacing traditional registration with social login. 86% of consumers are bothered by registering at a website and most will give false information or leave forms incomplete when creating a new account.
Four in five people are bothered by the need to create new accounts when registering on a website and will change their behavior as a result:
- 88% admit to having given incorrect information or left forms incomplete when creating a new account at a website
- 9 in 10 people (versus 45% in 2010) admit they have left a website if they forgot their password or log-in info, instead of trying to recover their password
- 82% seek out or avoid companies based on reviews from friends in their social graph
Consumers increasingly believe social login, the ability to sign-in to a website using an existing online identity from providers like Facebook, Google and Twitter, is a desirable alternative, says the report. 77% of respondents think websites should offer social login, instead of requiring the creation of a new account through a traditional registration process. In addition, fans of the service are more likely to both influence and be influenced by comments about a product or service from friends in their social graph. Increased brand affinity in fans of social login:
- 78% of social login fans have posted a comment or message to their social networks about a product or service they liked or thought others should know about or purchase
- 4 in 5 people (83%) say they are influenced to consider buying new products or services based on positive comments or messages from people in their social network
- 69% say positive reviews may increase their likelihood to purchase a product or service
- 82% seek out or avoid companies based on reviews from friends in their social graph
Paul Abel, Ph.D., Managing Partner, Blue Research, says “… failing to offer social login is a missed opportunity for businesses to improve ROI of online properties… fans of the service are more likely to register on the site, influence their friends … and more likely to return to a site that offers them a personalized experience…”
Consumers are increasingly bothered by the need to create new accounts. 4 in 5 say website registration bothers them; more are being driven away, fewer are willing to complete registrations
| On-site Registration Required (% of Respondents) | ||
| Action | 2010 | 2011 |
| Leave or avoid site | 4% | 6% |
| May leave the site or not return | 54% | 54% |
| Complete registration | 25 | 14 |
| Go to different site, if possible | 17 | 26 |
| Source: Janrain, January, 2012 |
Consumers receive conflicting messages from companies across channels or realize that a company does not know who they are.
| Mistargeted Marketing Efforts Experienced | |
| Message | % of Respondents |
| Wrong name, gender, age | 52% |
| Offer clearly not for me (e.g. single man receiving offer for a woman’s razor) | 66% |
| Conflicting messages across channels (e.g. mail, email, in-store) | 74% |
| None of these | 8% |
| Source: Janrain, January, 2012 | |
Assuming a secure website from a well-established company that offers content or sells products/services that interest you, most likely next step. 2 in 5 prefer social login over creating a new or guest account. In 10 months, preference for ‘social login’ increased by 13%
| Performance Re: Registration | ||
| Preference | 2010 | 2011 |
| Use Guest Account | 41% | 24% |
| Create New Account | 31% | 35% |
| Use Social Login | 28% | 41% |
| Source: Janrain, January, 2012 | ||
The report suggests four significant findings that are key takeaways:
- Requiring consumers to create traditional accounts may lead to undesired outcomes
- A vast majority of consumers prefer social login
- Social login fans are more valuable customers
- Social login’s personalization capabilities are attractive
For more information from Janrain, and to sign in for the complete report, please go here…
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