Key Facts:
Key findings at a glance
- Short tutorial and demo videos are the number one purchase trigger for Australians at 33%, ahead of deals (27%) and personalised recommendations (22%)
- Social media drives 29% of all product discovery, more than three times brand websites at 9%
- Seven in ten (71%) Australians discover new products while scrolling social at least once a week
- Only 11% of Australians start product research on a brand website
- 42% of all respondents use a brand’s social profile to decide what to buy, rising to 57% of Gen Z and 47% of Millennials
- More than two thirds (69%) of Australians use social as a search tool at least once a week, led by Gen Z (69%), Millennials (60%) and Gen X (38%)
- One in six (16%) Gen Z and Millennial Australians now use social primarily for search rather than posting
- Seven in ten (70%) want more control over what appears in their feeds
- In the past month: 31% hit “not interested” on an ad, 29% unfollowed or muted accounts
The infomercial is back. It just moved to TikTok and Instagram.
New Oysterly Media research finds short tutorials and demos are now Australia’s number one purchase trigger, with social driving three times more product discovery than brand websites
Australians have made up their minds about what makes them buy something, and it is not the polished brand campaign. New research from Oysterly Media finds that short tutorial and demo videos are now the number one purchase trigger for Australians, with 33 per cent saying a how-to clip is the content most likely to tip them into buying. That puts tutorials ahead of strong promotions and deals (27%), personalised recommendations (22%).
The report, “The Changing Landscape of Discovery and Trust”, commissioned by Oysterly Media and conducted by Oaktree Insights and Consulting, surveyed 1,200 Australians and revealed that social media now drives 29 per cent of all product discovery, more than three times the rate of brand websites at just 9 per cent. Seven in ten (71%) Australians discover new products on social at least once a week.
For Melissa Laurie, CEO of Oysterly Media, the findings point to a very Australian kind of comeback: “Anyone who remembers Big Kev knows this playbook. He’d hold the product up, show you exactly what it did, and you believed him because you could see it working. Now it’s back, living on TikTok and Instagram. The 30-second tutorial is ‘Big Kev with a smartphone’, and it is just as effective as it was then,” she says.
The brand website still matters, just not in the way it used to
Only 11 per cent of Australians start product research on a brand website. In the past three months, 42 per cent of all respondents have used a brand’s social profile rather than their website to decide what to buy, a figure that rises to 57 per cent for Gen Z and 47 per cent for Millennials.
For many consumers, the brand website has become the last stop rather than the first, sometimes nothing more than a payment platform once their mind is already made up, says Melissa: “The brand website still matters, but it is playing a different role than it used to.
“By the time many consumers land on it, the decision is essentially done. They have watched the tutorial, read the comments, and checked the brand’s social profile. The website is where they complete the purchase. Companies selling online should stop trying to make their homepage do the heavy lifting and focus their energy on the feed instead,” she continues.
Social media is the new storefront
Social media has transformed from a place to post and interact into a search and shopping engine in its own right. More than two thirds (69%) of Australians now use social as a search tool at least once a week, with Gen Z leading the charge at 69 per cent, followed by Millennials at 60 per cent and Gen X at 38 per cent.Nearly half (48%) of Australians now use social media as a search tool at least once a week.
Melissa explains: “Australians are typing search queries into TikTok and Instagram the same way they used to type them into Google Search . Social search has become the entry point for the consideration process, and brands with a strong, searchable presence in the feed are the ones getting found.”
Attention is earned, not assumed
The research also finds Australians are actively curating what they let into their feeds. In the past month alone, 31 per cent have hit “not interested” on an ad, 29 per cent have unfollowed or muted accounts, 25 per cent have reduced notifications, and 24 per cent have cut time on a specific platform. Seven in ten say they want more control over what they see, even if it means seeing less new content.
Melissa explains: “More reach does not necessarily mean more attention. The tutorial format wins because it gives people something useful, and that is what makes them stop scrolling and watch.”
Key findings at a glance
- Short tutorial and demo videos are the number one purchase trigger for Australians at 33%, ahead of deals (27%) and personalised recommendations (22%)
- Social media drives 29% of all product discovery, more than three times brand websites at 9%
- Seven in ten (71%) Australians discover new products while scrolling social at least once a week
- Only 11% of Australians start product research on a brand website
- 42% of all respondents use a brand’s social profile to decide what to buy, rising to 57% of Gen Z and 47% of Millennials
- More than two thirds (69%) of Australians use social as a search tool at least once a week, led by Gen Z (69%), Millennials (60%) and Gen X (38%)
- One in six (16%) Gen Z and Millennial Australians now use social primarily for search rather than posting
- Seven in ten (70%) want more control over what appears in their feeds
- In the past month: 31% hit “not interested” on an ad, 29% unfollowed or muted accounts
Methodology
“The Changing Landscape of Discovery and Trust” was conducted by Oysterly Media and Oaktree Insights and Consulting in Q1 2026, surveying 1,200 Australians drawn from all states and territories. The sample was weighted to reflect the Australian population by age, gender and location.
About us:
About Oysterly Media
Oysterly Media is an Australian-founded social video agency helping brands grow through standout short-form content, sharp strategy and trend-driven storytelling. Founded by Melissa Laurie in 2022, the company specialises in user-generated and employee-generated content, using proprietary social search tools to make brand videos searchable, scroll-stopping and built to perform. Oysterly Media works with brands globally and is headquartered in Singapore. For more information visit oysterlymedia.com.
Contact details:
Media enquiries
Fiona Hamann
Hamann Communication
0415 191 659
[email protected]
