Recommendations from personal acquaintances or opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising, according to the latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries.

Ninety percent or consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online.

“The explosion in Consumer Generated Media 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,” says Jonathan Carson, President of Online, International, for the Nielsen Company.”

However, in this new age of consumer control, advertisers will be encouraged by the fact that brand websites are trusted at that same 70 percent level as online consumer opinions.

Fuente: NielsenWire

Resume de Socialmediatoday:

Is the provocative statement given in this presentation from the excellent Future Lab. I’ve pulled out the stats from the presentation:

* In 1965, 80% of 18-49 year olds in the US could be reached by three 60 second spots. In 2002, it needed 117 commercials to do the same (Jim Stengel, P&G – I personally lead with this stat a lot in presentations)
* Big six study: People with personal video recorders like Tivo and Sky+ watch 12% more TV while 90% of them ad skip.
* The advertising turn-off is a factor that crosses geographical boundaries. In China 85% stop watching TV during commercials. Half do housework, eat, chat or use the bathroom
* 54% of US consumers avoid products and services which “overwhelm” them with advertising (Yankelovich and Partners)
* According to the CMO’s council retail fluency report, in terms of influence when it comes to buying electronic goods, in-store sales assistants scored 49%, word of mouth from family and friends 33%, the Internet 21%…TV and radio ads 4%
* 80% of CEOs believe their brand provides a superior customer experience. 8% of their customers agree
* According to the Marketing Science Institute, word of mouth is 7x more effective than newspaper ads, 5x stronger than a personal sales pitch and 2x as effective as radio advertising

Source: Socialmediatoday