Originally published January 2024. Updated September 26, 2026.
5W AI Communications’ 2024 Consumer Culture Report found word of mouth and customer reviews outranking paid social advertising as the top purchase driver for U.S. shoppers, while travel spending intent rose 7 percentage points year over year, the largest single-category jump in the study’s five-year run. The report is the fifth annual edition of 5W’s national survey on consumer spending intent, trusted content sources, and in-store versus online shopping preference.
What changed in the 2024 report versus 2023?
The 2024 edition reversed the pattern from 2023, when inflation pressure had made consumers reluctant to splurge. Electronics and health and wellness held their spots as the top splurge categories in 5W’s 2024 report, while travel and experiences jumped 7 percentage points year over year, the single largest category move the series has recorded.
Word of mouth and customer reviews outranked paid social advertising as the most influential purchase driver across nearly every category 5W surveyed. Respondents ages 16 to 24 leaned on user-generated content more than older cohorts did, a gap 5W’s researchers flagged as a structural opening for brands trying to earn trust with the youngest shoppers.
Why it works: consumers discount branded messaging because a company visibly benefits from its own claims, while a friend, family member, or an independent reviewer has no comparable incentive, so the identical claim reads as more credible coming from either source. 5W’s 2024 report is the named, dated source for the finding.
Does "word of mouth" mean creator content or a personal referral?
For most respondents in the 2024 survey, word of mouth still means a recommendation from a friend or family member, not a creator’s sponsored post. Brands that count creator content as word of mouth are counting a narrower, and generally less trusted, category of influence than the term actually covers.
A majority of 2024 respondents named in-store shopping as their preferred experience despite years of e-commerce growth. 5W’s researchers frame the retail takeaway as a mandate to compete on an actual experience advantage, exclusive in-store product or promotions, rather than assuming online convenience wins by default.
How has the Consumer Culture Report series changed since 2020?
| Year | Headline finding |
|---|
| 2020 | 82% of Millennials buy on first sight; word of mouth sways 93% of young shoppers |
| 2021 | 58% of Gen Z buy from social feeds as TikTok emerges as a sales channel |
| 2022 | 58% of consumers rank timing over location; 71% check a brand's ethics before buying |
| 2023 | 60% of consumers still spend beyond necessities despite inflation |
| 2024 | Word of mouth and reviews outrank paid social; travel spending intent rises 7 points |
5W AI Communications had not published a 2025 or 2026 edition of the report as of this update. The 2024 edition remains the most recent in the series.
