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IELTS Topic: ADVERTISING & MARKETING
Reading 1
Antidote to consumers’ distrust of advertising
Original source: Trustpilot
Trustpilot, one of the world’s biggest product review platforms, surveyed 2,048 consumers in the UK and US on their attitudes towards advertising.
In our deep dive into consumer we established that, regardless of ad format or online channel, few consumers perceive ads as being trustworthy, and rarely take them into consideration for purchasing decisions.
So, if the vast majority of consumers are sceptical of ads they come across on every digital, is there any ad content or messaging that resonates with consumers enough to shape their purchasing decisions?
And if not, how do consumers form the intention to buy?
Many customers trust the rating of a product of service by others purchasers that they have never met. pichetw/Shutterstock
According to a recent study 84% of consumers trust online recommendations just as much as ones from the people they know.
The results of our survey confirm that online reviews are an important part of the customer journey. That said, in the eyes of consumers, not all types of reviews carry the same weight.
84% of customers trust online recommendations just as much as ones from people they know
In both the U.S. and the U.K., about 6 in 10 individuals said that the inclusion of pros and cons was a key indicator of review quality and validity. This could stem from concerns about fake reviews, and an underlying assumption that balanced reviews feel more authentic than reviews that are overly or exclusively positive.
In the same vein, reviews featuring an image were rated as important for 37% of U.K. respondents and 45% of U.S. respondents. It’s likely that consumers see images in reviews as another form of proof that a review is authentic — and that the delivered product or service indeed resembles the brand’s claims.
Compared to the high volume of intrusive and unsubstantiated ads consumers dodge at every touchpoint, online reviews are the antidote to the consumer trust crisis around advertising.
Online reviews that are articulate, thorough and personal, much like an exchange between friends, carry a lot of weight … (Nory Jones)