Over one year, word-of-mouth pushes the likelihood of phone users making the switch.
The USA's Marketing Association examined customers of a service provider to determine how likely it is for users to jump ship to another network when their friend cancels their contract.
Results across one year show that around one-third of the customers studied saw at least one of their friends leave the network. After the departure, the firm found there was an 80 per cent rise the remaining chum would also leave.
Analysts Nitzan and Libai, said: "This article shows that even in well-established industries, churn is a social phenomenon."
The report says such movement is fuelled as close friends are likely to listen to each others opinions.
It's also plausible that friends were likely to leave together to maintain a high level of communication too and benefit from special offers.
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This means they would be able to benefit from deals that networks like O2 provide with O2-to-O2 minutes, which come in addition to standard minute bundles.
The impact of word-of-mouth views were found less likely among consumers that were considered 'loyal' to the carrier, defined by length of service and usage level.
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