More Web Consumers Trust Recommendation From Other Consumers
October 10th, 2007 Posted in NewsWord of mouth is still the best form of advertising. The forces unleashed by new media technologies seem to have never changed the truth behind this age-old wisdom dating back to the times when human culture was largely oral.
This was proven lately by a survey conducted by the Nielsen Media Research, a leader in research providing the most credible information on the media trends today. The survey shows that internet users trust recommendations from other consumers more than they do any other form of advertising such as mobile text ads, which were found to be the least popular.
With over 24, 486 respondents in 447 countries, seventy-eight percent of consumers express trust in traditional forms of advertising over mobile or search ads. In overall ranking, traditional media advertisements were followed newspaper ads ranked second at 63 percent. All above 50 percent were television, magazine, and radio ads.
A very good review of products and services from former customers also shows to be the basis of most new customers’ decisions. The survey says that 61 percent of internet users say they trust customer opinions on review sites. Branded websites shared a different public with 60 percent of consumers admitting trust to consumer reviews. On permission-based emails, 49 percent of consumer-respondents say they trust information found in permission-based emails.
As for other types of advertising, search engine ads appear to fare less at 34 percent, while banner ads are at a 26 percent range followed by mobile ads as the lowest at 18 percent. For text message ads, this only means one thing: upgrade the advertising medium by transforming it according to customer needs and wants.
Nielsen’s findings this year reveal nothing new. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, also known as WOMMA, in one of their researches, has also found 80 percent of U.S. customers saying they trust in peer reviews more than they do other types of advertisements. This is approximately eight out of ten U.S. consumers using product reviews as a basis for their spending.
It also found a significant seventy-five percent of U.S. shoppers saying that it is “extremely” or “very important” to use customer reviews before a purchase. Another significant finding, likewise, points to 85 percent of consumers preferring peer reviews over expert reviews—a reflection of how product reviews posted on websites can be a useful tool in achieving excellent sales and new customers.
The WOMMA survey provides a peek into the “why” behind the findings of Nielsen by disclosing that 44 percent of U.S. shoppers admitting customer reviews as a useful feature of website over other features such as product comparison, product navigation, and privacy information at 15 percent, 12 percent, and 11 percent respectively.
The other side of the Atlantic sings in tune to what U.S. consumers say in the surveys. The WOMMA survey bares that half of U.K. shoppers say review information and customer ratings as important in a website.
The Nielsen survey results seem to be true not only to the internet marketing industries but to other industries as well, particularly the travel industry. Forrester Research reports that a third of American travelers read reviews by other travelers when looking for hotel and accommodations information. The research further showed that customers who purchase travel packages online would change plans based on comments made by fellow travelers.
For those in the internet marketing business, these survey results only suggest one thing: use word of mouth strategies in internet advertising and put the old saying, “word of mouth is the best form of advertising” to the test.
