WORD-OF-MOUTH MOST POWERFUL SELLING TOOL IN INDIA: NIELSEN GLOBAL SURVEY

Newspapers and Consumer Opinions follow in effectiveness

8 October 2007
Mumbai, India

87 percent of Internet accessing Indians still trust recommendations from others over any other kind of advertising, making word-of-mouth advertising the most powerful tool in the industry today, according to a recent global Nielsen Internet survey.

India comes fourth among the top ten countries globally which trust in recommendations from consumers, with Hong Kong leading the list with 93 percent. Seven of the top ten markets that rely most on “recommendations from consumers” are in Asia.

Newspapers came in second (77%) on the list of advertising media that Indian consumers trust the most. Surprisingly consumer opinions posted online and brand websites came a little ahead of television advertising with 73 and 72 percent respectively. Television came in at number five with 65 percent of Indian respondents considering television advertising as trustworthy.

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 towards thirteen types of advertising – from conventional newspapers and television ads to branded web sites and consumer-generated content.

Word of Mouth is a powerful recommendation for Asians
Seven of the top 10 markets that relied on it hailed from Asia

As a consumer one is exposed to advertising in various media but what touches ones chord is either a very innovative message or a product, which is good value for money. Word of mouth brings with it a big “trust” factor, which is quite often missing in other forms of advertising. Indians by nature, tend to believe a friend or an associate while evaluating a product,” said Sarang Panchal, Executive Director, Client Solutions, The Nielsen Company.

Ads in newspapers rank second (77 percent) in India and also globally among all media categories at 63 percent. Other traditional forms of advertising like television, magazines and radio each rank above 50 percent. 

To What Extent Do You Trust the Following Forms of Advertising? (India Figures)

The Nielsen survey found that new platforms like the Internet are beginning to slowly catch up with conventional media in terms of advertising revenues. Though the overall reach of Internet in India is yet to be widespread consumer opinions posted online and brand websites still make it to the list of top ten countries (at 3rd and 6th position respectively), which trust these unconventional forms of advertising. Global consumer opinions posted online make it to the third most trusted advertising form with 61 percent.

“This result clearly shows that Indians are not averse to new forms of advertising and is a welcome sign for marketers to explore different advertising opportunities, which are very cost effective too! Blogs and Social Networking sites are becoming a big tool in the western world to generate consumer opinion, especially regarding new product launches. Though in a nascent state and popular with only certain sections of the society, these have the potential to become an interesting advertising avenue for the marketers” added Panchal.

Top Five/Bottom Five - To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising:

consumer opinions posted online

With 71 percent in India, magazines made it to the fifth slot as a medium that can be trusted. India is also the 9th country amongst the top ten countries, which trusts magazine advertising, according to the survey.

Radio, brand sponsorships, and emails that a respondent has signed up for inspired the trust of more than half the respondents with all of them scoring above 50 percent. Search engine ads (41%), Ads before movies (41%), Online Banner ads (38%), and Text ad on Mobiles (24%) are the least trusted forms of advertising in India.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

47 Markets Covered: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark,  Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, US and Vietnam.

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