A report by NPD reveals that online recommendations are a leading purchase influencer for beauty products — and it is growing in importance. This is especially true for anti-aging skincare products, according to The Anti-Aging Facial Skincare Consumer Report by NPD.

The availability of samples is still a leading influencer, along with recommendations by friends, family or coworkers. But, beauty shoppers say that 58% of the time, “information found through searches done online” are influencing their buying decisions – this percentage is up from 52% in 2010.

In addition to information found through searches done online, more women today report they are educated via Internet community websites like Facebook and Twitter (21% vs. 16%), and blogs (19% vs. 16%) as compared to two years ago.

In contrast, magazine/newspaper advertisements appear to have less of an impact today as compared to 2010 (50% vs. 54%).

“Success in the anti-aging skincare category is largely governed by product efficacy perceptions,” said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Women are willing to pay for products that they believe work. Effective products tend to generate buzz that leads to positive word of mouth as well as online chatter with regards to reviews and blogs that serve as key influencers. As an industry we want to continue to innovate and create products that address the wide variety of aging concerns for women of all ages and ethnicities,” said Grant.