Do more ‘likes’ necessarily lead to more clicks? Only sometimes

Conducted by Song Lin (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) and Shan Huang (The University of Hong Kong), the study explores how social cues such as ‘likes’ affect ad effectiveness on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. 

The study, titled ‘Do More Likes Lead to More Clicks? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Social Advertising’, reveals that ‘likes’ drive two distinct forms of social influence: normative and informational. 

“Our research shows that the first ‘like’ serves as a critical cue, encouraging users to both like and click on ads. However, additional likes enhance the liking rate without significantly increasing clicks,” Lin explains. 

Key findings from the study 

The research highlights the different effects of social cues:  

• Normative social influence: Users are more likely to like an ad when they see others doing so, driven by the desire to conform to social norms. 

• Informational social influence: Clicking behaviour is more influenced by the perceived credibility and relevance of an ad’s content, which diminishes as likes accumulate. 

“The first like on an ad creates a powerful ripple effect, boosting both liking and clicking. However, as likes grow, their informational value weakens, leading to a plateau in click-through rates,” Huang notes. 

Practical implications for marketers 

The study provides actionable insights for marketers designing social media ad campaigns: 

• Brand awareness campaigns: For brands focused on building awareness, leveraging normative social influence through visible likes can enhance brand perception and increase ad likes. 

• Performance-driven campaigns: To maximise click-through rates and conversions, marketers should balance normative and informational influences, carefully considering how many likes to display in ads. 

“For ads aimed at driving clicks, showing just the first like, or a limited number [of likes], may preserve the perceived informational value, encouraging users to act,” Huang suggests. 

Implications for social media platforms 

The study also underscores the role of social media platforms in shaping advertising effectiveness. “Platforms should consider how design features, such as whether to display likes, impact user engagement and advertiser outcomes,” Lin advises. 

For platforms testing the visibility of likes – such as Instagram’s recent experiments with hiding ‘like’ counts – the findings suggest that balancing normative and informational cues can create a more authentic and effective advertising experience. 

The research offers a roadmap for leveraging social influence dynamics in digital marketing. By understanding the interplay between normative and informational cues, marketers can design more engaging campaigns, while platforms can refine their features to maximise user interaction and advertising performance. 

You can find out more about the research here.