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,” Laurie commented.

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.” Laurie commented “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,” Laurie commented.

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.

“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.” Laurie commented.

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.

“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.” Laurie commented.

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.