Below are the results of a recent Nielsen survey of 25,000 consumers from 50 countries.
Is it interesting that off-line trust leads the pack? And, by a fairly comfortable margin?
I thought about it in my own life and while I do occasionally [when buying books] read a review or two before making a purchase – I many times turn to my friends. Just last week I asked a couple friends for names of a good Family Doctor and a really good place to eat lunch. And, as funny as it may seem, when I moved in Feb. I asked a couple of friends what neighborhoods they would recommend living in or around. I ignored the ILSs, Craigslists and even my own companies offerings. Reason: I – personally – find them to be time consuming relative to a friend saying, “Yeah – check this place or that place out.” I found my dentist, attorney, local bank, and cleaners the same way – ironically from the same person. I even consulted two friends to help me find the perfect Jeep dealership. Never even thought about Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, etc…
Interesting or not really? What does it really mean – if anything?
Related story:
Nielsen: Consumers Trust Online Opinions
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Offline WOM Rules the Day…: Below are the results of a recent Nielsen survey of 25,000 consumers from 50 c.. http://tinyurl.com/l36n84
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Great bit of data, Mike.
What I'm intrigued by is what percentage of that interaction with “people I know” is happening online. We always trust people who have credibility and dimension with us. The power of all our communications tools is that we don't have to pick up the phone, or ask over cocktails…we can just broadcast the need for a reference out to our network. I'm seeing more and more of that. The research doesn't differentiate how we communicate — it's focused on how we define our relationship. The ease of communications just turbo-charges word of mouth.
Thanks for the info Mike. The reason so many people trust recommendations from others is becuase they choose the source based on acquired knowledge of the source's history, thus validating the information. For example, when searching for the perfect Jeep dealership you don't ask your friend who has only driven sports cars for the past 20 years. You ask your friends that either own or considered owning Jeeps. When it comes to online opinions we assume a certain amount of risk in accepting the information. We do not know the contributor's background and should search for multiple opinions to minimize the risk of making a bad decision.
Offline WOM Rules the Day… – http://shar.es/Y20p
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
It's really obvious, all you have to do is give people piece of mind and they will surely make a prompt decision to go ahead and use the services that a friend or family member referred to them. When you go blindly into a business transaction you don't have that piece of mind, you get the feeling of “risk”. On the flip side people tend to forget about the risk when the have the reassurance from a person who has had that experience before them and it worked for them so it should work for you, right? You would hope so!
One things for sure, personal referrals convert much faster than any other form of advertising/marketing…….. in my experienced opinion.
Brand Websites or “family favorites” are a big hitter too!
Thanks for sharing this survey.
Intuitively we all know that the most important reference is from someone you trust but as marketers and sales people we look for opportunities to 'influence' this trust with special marketing magic :). It is a good reminder that the best thing we can do is deliver outstanding service to our customers so they really *want* to offer enthusiastic and positive recommendations.
I do actually look at Yelp. TripAdvisor, etc and other 'star ratings' – maybe it is part of following the pack (I need to be more original !) but if I see 1 star or 5 stars it gives me a sense of how good (or bad) the service is.