Offline Talkers Have More Credibility
by John Moore TalkTrack Conversationalist, August 19, 2010Tags: Brands, Face-to-face, Keller Fay Group, offline, online, research, Social media, TalkTrack®, WOM, word of mouth
According to Edelman’s 2010 Trust Barometer study, the percentage of people who view their friends as credible sources of information about a brand has fallen from 45% in 2008 to 25% in 2010.
That’s an alarming statistic for marketers wanting to tap into the power of word of mouth through online social media marketing.
Some marketers have cited this decline in credibility as a result of “friends” becoming defined more loosely because of social media. Sure, we’re Facebook friends with someone and we’re Twitter followers of someone, but are we really friends with them? Do we trust the word of mouth recommendations of people we’re Facebook friends and Twitter followers of? Are these online “friends” as credible as our offline, real world friends?
Statistics from Keller Fay’s TalkTrack® study shed light onto this issue.
The straight-up fact is word of mouth recommendations from our real world friends are more credible than recommendations from our online world of friends. TalkTrack® data reveals word of mouth conversations that take place face-to-face and voice-to-voice with people are 10% more believable than conversations that take place online.
This credibility disparity impacts purchase intent.
Keller Fay’s research shows when consumers are given product recommendations from a real world friend, they are 50% likely to purchase the recommended product. When online friends/followers make product recommendations, a consumer is 43% likely to purchase that product. The 7% disparity isn’t extreme, but it is interesting.
The key takeaway from Keller Fay’s TalkTrack® data is garnering a virtual recommendation online is valuable and worth triggering, but earning an actual recommendation in the offline is more valuable.
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