Despite an ever-expanding array of advertising platforms and sources, consumers around the world still place their highest levels of trust in other consumers, according to a recent global Nielsen Internet survey.
Conducted twice-a-year among 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East, Nielsen most recently surveyed consumers on their attitudes toward thirteen types of advertising – from conventional newspaper and television ads to branded web sites and consumer-generated content. This survey, however, is only a reflection of internet users’ attitudes and is therefore not representative of all consumers’ behaviour, especially in South Africa.
“Advertisers around the world are able to reach consumers across an increasingly diverse range of media platforms,” said David McCallum, the global managing director for Nielsen’s Customised Research Services. “Even so, the recommendation of someone else remains the most trusted source of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy. And even though new media technologies are playing a role in ‘globalising’ society, many purchasing decisions are still based on firmly held national and cultural attitudes. Furthermore, given that nothing travels faster than bad news - with estimates that reports of bad experiences outnumber good service reports by as many as 5:1 - the importance of responsive, high quality customer service is yet again highlighted.”
The Nielsen survey found South Africans to be the most trusting of all forms of advertising within the EEMEA region (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa), while globally we are the fourth most trusting of all consumers surveyed.
Top Five/Bottom Five – Trust in Advertising
|
Philippines |
67% |
|
Brazil |
67% |
|
Mexico |
66% |
|
South Africa |
64% |
|
Taiwan |
63% |
|
Latvia |
38% |
|
Germany |
35% |
|
Lithuania |
34% |
|
Italy |
32% |
|
Denmark |
28% |
The Nielsen survey also found that while new platforms like the Internet are beginning to catch up with older media in terms of ad revenues, traditional advertising channels continue to retain the public’s trust. Ads in newspapers rank second worldwide among all media categories, at 63% overall, while television, magazines and radio each ranked above 50 percent. In South Africa, however, consumers have higher trust in traditional forms of advertising, with 84% of respondents trusting Newspaper Advertising, and around three-quarters of consumers trusting Magazines, TV and Radio. South Africans also have high trust in more modern forms of advertising, with 70% trusting Brand Websites and Brand Sponsorships and 63% trusting advertisement emails they had signed up for. The reliability of consumer opinions posted online – which rated third on the list of trusted advertising forms globally (61%) is not as highly trusted in South Africa compared to other forms of advertising, with South Africans’ responses in line with the global average.
Search engine and banner advertising, along with text ads on mobile phones, scored at the bottom of the list globally with fewer than 35% of total respondents. Only 28% of South Africans trust text Ads on Mobiles, while 32% trust online banners.
Global Responses:
To What Extent Do You Trust the Following Forms of Advertising?
|
Recommendations from consumers |
78% |
|
Newspapers |
63% |
|
Consumer opinions posted online |
61% |
|
Brand websites |
60% |
|
Television |
56% |
|
Magazines |
56% |
|
Radio |
54% |
|
Brand sponsorships |
49% |
|
Email I signed up for |
49% |
|
Ads before movies |
38% |
|
Search engine ads |
34% |
|
Online banner ads |
26% |
|
Text ads on mobile phones |
18% |
Source: Nielsen Online Global Consumer Study April 2007
Base: All Respondents
Word of Mouth is a powerful recommendation for Asians
Six of the top 10 markets who relied on it hailed from Asia
|
Hong Kong |
93% |
|
Taiwan |
91% |
|
Indonesia |
89% |
|
India |
87% |
|
South Korea |
87% |
|
Philippines |
86% |
|
Ireland |
84% |
|
Mexico |
84% |
|
UAE |
84% |
|
New Zealand |
83% |
Top Five/Bottom Five - to rely on someone else’s recommendation
|
Hong Kong |
93% |
|
Taiwan |
91% |
|
Indonesia |
89% |
|
India |
87% |
|
South Korea |
87% |
|
Hungary |
68% |
|
Latvia |
68% |
|
Lithuania |
64% |
|
Italy |
64% |
|
Denmark |
62% |
Consumer generated media – such as Blogs –
were considered a reliable source of information for North Americans and Asians
|
North America |
66% |
|
Asia Pacific |
62% |
|
Europe |
59% |
|
EEMEA |
57% |
|
Latam |
53% |
|
Global Average |
61% |
Top Five/Bottom Five - To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising:
consumer opinions posted online
|
Korea |
81% |
|
Taiwan |
76% |
|
India |
73% |
|
Philippines |
72% |
|
Poland |
72% |
|
Italy |
47% |
|
Chile |
47% |
|
Estonia |
46% |
|
Lithuania |
46% |
|
Finland |
35% |