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Personal advice valued the most, consumer survey finds
Consumers worldwide value recommendations by personal acquaintances the most, market research firm Nielsen has found.
According to the latest twice-yearly Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries, nine of every 10 Internet consumers said they trust recommendations from people they know.
The survey also found that online recommendations have become powerful over the last few years as 70 percent of consumers in the survey said they trust opinions posted online by unknown users.
“The explosion in Consumer Generated Media (CGM) over the last couple of years means consumers’ reliance on word of mouth in the decision-making process, either from people they know or online consumers they don’t, has increased significantly,” said Jonathan Carson, Nielsen’s president of Online International.
“It’s possible that the CGM revolution has forced advertisers to use a more realistic form of messaging that is grounded in the experience of consumers rather than the lofty ideals of the advertisers,” Carson said.
Consumer opinions posted online tend to be trusted most by Vietnamese Internet consumers at 81 percent, followed by Italian, Chinese and French counterparts, the survey found.
One of the findings that can be encouraging for many advertisers is that their most trusted advertising form – brand websites – are trusted by 70 percent of those surveyed, making them as highly valued as consumer opinions posted online.
Vietnam ranks 20th among the countries surveyed, with 71 percent of Internet consumers trusting brand websites. This form of advertising holds the greatest sway in China at 82 percent, the survey found.
thanhnien, bloomberg
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