Consumers rely on opinions online

Personal and online recommendations are the most trusted form of product advertising, according to new findings of an international study by one of the world's leading consumer research agencies.

The twice-yearly Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey questioned more than 25,000 internet consumers in 50 countries worldwide.

The study, conducted by Nielsen Consumer Research, revealed that consumers trusted personal recommendations most of all, with 90% of respondents saying they trusted the opinions of people they knew.

But many respondents also valued what other consumers said about products and services on the internet, with 70% saying they trusted opinions posted online.

By contrast, significantly fewer consumers trusted paid advertising, such as brand sponsorships (64%) and cinema advertising (52%).

And many of the new forms of digital advertising inspired relatively low levels of consumer trust, at only 24% for text ads on mobile phones, 33% for online banner ads and 41% for paid placement on search engine results pages.

But the good news for online PR and other media marketers was the high degree of confidence consumers had in the information provided by corporate websites, at 70% of all respondents.

The figures provide a sharp reminder of the power of brand websites as a PR tool to engage with and inspire trust in its customers and build up a community of followers.