Pinoys trust word-of-mouth more than traditional, online ads – Nielsen

Word-of-mouth recommendations are still the top source of Filipinos when it comes to marketing, even as advertising in traditional media remain strong and online advertisments gain credibility, according to information and insights provider Nielsen.

 

Nielsen’s Global Survey of Trust said consumers in the Southeast Asian region placed the highest level of trust in word-of-mouth endorsements, with the Philippines ranking the highest to 89 percent, followed by Malaysia with 86 percent, Singapore with 85 percent and Indonesia with 85 percent.

 

Traditional, online adverts

 

Traditional advertisements—on television, magazine and newspaper—continue to be among the most trusted forms of paid advertising for consumers in the region, despite declining trust in magazine and newspaper commercials.

 

More than seven in 10 consumers or 78 percent in the Philippines said 

they trusted television ads; followed by Indonesia at 74 percent; Thailand at 72 percent; and Malaysia 70 percent–all well above the global average of 62 percent. 

 

Meanwhile, the Nielsen study said online advertising saw the largest increase in trust levels for Southeast Asian consumers, with 68 percent of Indonesian consumers placing the highest trust in consumer-consented e-mail messages—up 16 points from 2007 and 11 points higher than the global average—followed by the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

 

Optimism for the future

 

Guillermo Luz, co-chairman of National Competitiveness Council, said that consumer confidence rises when there's an optimistic view on the future and with that, how Filipinos get their information is still evolving in the Philippines.

 

"A lot of it has to do something with the generation," Luz told GMA News Online on the sidelines of the Philippine-UK Trade and Investment Links press briefing at PICC in Pasay City.

 

"But when I say 'generation,' it's not necessarily just age, it's also exposure. Some people are IT, technology generation versus other people that are more a bit of old school. It's a matter of preference as well," he added.

 

Role of social media

 

Luz noted that young people are so much more at home with social networking sites and social media and buying online while "others go through traditional forms of advertising to get information, or even go by referral of friends."

 

In online advertising, online banner ads reflected strong trust growth, ads in search engine results were trusted by more than half of consumers and video ads by nearly half of consumers in the region.

 

The Nielsen study also said Southeast Asian consumers’ trust in owned advertising in the form of content and messaging on brand websites also increased, all markets—except Singapore—scored well above the current global average of 69 percent.

 

Filipinos placed the highest level of trust in owned advertising with 82 percent believing brand websites to be credible followed by Thai 

consumers with 76 percent, Indonesia and Vietnam wih 75 percent and Malaysia with 72 percent.  

 

“The positive response of consumers towards brand website content presents opportunities for marketers as it is an avenue where they can control the brand messages in a way that consumers consider credible,” said Stuart Jamieson, managing director of Nielsen Philippines.

 

Regarding specific types of advertisements across all media, the Nielsen study said that Filipinos are most likely to respond well to advertising that used real-life situations, while ads that were value- and family-oriented and humorous also fared well. 

 

Thus, Jamieson recommends that advertisers should ensure commercials' message have positive impact to influence consumers' purchase decision.

 

"Similar to their South East Asian neighbors, Filipino consumers’ hearts and minds are easily captured by advertisements which feature relatable situations, comedic relief, and advertisements that focus on family and health,” he said.

 

Nielsen’s Global Survey of Trust in Advertising polled more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries to measure consumer sentiment on 19 forms of paid, earned and owned advertising formats. — TJD, GMA News