Friends Have More Credibility Than Brands

According to Nielsen’s Latest Global Trust in Advertising Survey, 92% of respondents in 56 different countries said they trusted word-of-mouth recommendation from their friends and family above all other forms of communication.

That’s up 17% since 2007. Consumers are also increasingly likely to trust the voices of strangers over those of a corporation. Online consumer reviews there the second-most trusted form of communication (cited by 70% of consumers, up 15% since 2007). At the same time, trust in paid traditional media (including television, magazine and newspaper ads) has steadily declined since 2009. (Trust in television is down 24%; magazines, down 20%; and newspapers down 25%, according to the survey.) Overall, 47% of consumers worldwide said they still trusted those media, although the drops are substantial.