Advertising: Consumer Trust Pattern: What do Consumers trust in various forms of Advertising & Marketing

Ever wondered why even after the advent of internet and so many high tech mediums of communication & news, why are the age old newspapers still in business?? Instead, some of them have even managed to remain profitable during the recession. It may be an eye opener for many advertising and marketing agencies across the Globe. Very recently, Nielsen, the global consultancy firm, conducted a survey titled Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, to study the consumer preference and trust patterns when it comes to the Consumer Behavior for trusting the medium of advertisment. In this article, we will summarize the results of the survey for Consumer Trsut Pattern for Advertising.

Have a look at the graph below - it shows the various methods & mediums by which a consumer gets to know the product and its advertisements. The sources are as follows:
- Recommendations from People Known

- Consumer Opinions & Reviews Posted Online

- Brand Websites

- Editorial Content from Newspaper or sites

- Brand Sponsorships

- Television

- Newspaper

- Magazines

- Bill Boards or Outdoor Ads

- Radio

- Email Offers

- Ads Before Movies

- Search Engine Results Ads

- Online Video Ads

- Online Banner Ads

- SMS or Text Ads on Mobile Phones



So the verdict is clear. Look at the topmost medium - people buying on recommendations of those whom they know. It is usually said, "All Things being equal, people will buy from friends or their recommendations" . This is clearly evident as the most trusted mediums of sources of information for trusting a brand or advertisment is still the age old recommendation from some one who you already know.

Now, let us shift our focus to the bottom of the chart. SMS or Text ads sent to mobiles are least trusted. This should be an eye opener for the marketing and advertising campaigners who are going after mobile advertising. This mode of advertising is at the lowest rung.

Then, look at the 3 other categories above SMS ads. This may not be good news for online ad agencies like Google Ads and Yahoo Publisher Network, etc.
Search Engine Results Ads, Online Video Ads & Online Banner Ads occupy the position in the last 4 slots. One of the major problems with online advertising is that anyone from anywhere can put up anything on the web and there is no way to track it. Just for an example, Someone from Indonesia or Ghana may put up a nice website about cheap medicines available online, place an online ad and the consumer in USA may end up paying the money but not get anything. The chances of online frauds are high, given the unlimited geographical coverage it has.

However, there are exceptions to it. Have a look at the top third category - Ads on Brand Websites. This comes as a bit of surprise because if people are not trusting online banner ads, then the pattern should be same for all websites. However, the survey tells that online ads put up on brand & trusted websites are trusted better and infact, that is placed at no. 3. But I beg to differ on this. Sites like Moneycontrol.com host Google Ads, infact, they are given full freedom to customise the ads. How is it that someone seeing the same ad on Moneycontrol can trust it more than it is displayed on any other site? Again, people tend to trust what they trust already (a kind of recommendation).

But two things that clearly emerges out as a winner are as follows:

- People to People Recommendations: hence Companies should focus more on consumer services, after sales, ensuring complete consumer satisfaction and confidence in the brand. A bad recommendation propogates like anything and you are ought to loose out heavily on the consumers

- Newspaper Marketing & Advertising: Another strong medium and still trusted one