Word-of-mouth advertising is still the most powerful way to promote a brand. Also, a Nielsen study shows it's the most reliable form of advertising. Nielsen interviewed 26,000 people from 47 different nations.
This high measure of reliability is often based upon the personal experiences the sender has with the product. The sender of the word-of-mouth message is considered an 'expert' by the receiving party. 78% of respondents says to trust recommendations made by others. Word-of-mouth isn't the only form of advertising that gets high marks. Other consumers' opinions are found very trustworthy when it comes to online customer experiences as well. Advertising in newspapers is not found unreliable either. 61% of respondents is influenced by customer experiences and 63% uses newspaper ads to decide in the buying process.
People encounter brands through media such as television (56%), websites (60%) and magazines (56%). 54% is confronted with brands through the radio, 49% encounters sponsored advertising or newsletter subscriptions.
A remarkable outcome of the study is that Asian countries score particularly high in trusting word-of-mouth advertising. In Hong Kong the score is 93%, Taiwan 91%, Indonesia 89%, India 87% and South Korea 87%. In European countries the scores range between 60 and 70%, such as Hungary (68%), Latvia (64%) and Denmark (62%).
