Modern-Day Word of Mouth Is Most Influential With Consumers

There’s the old saying “word of mouth travels fast.”

In today’s fast-paced digitally focused society, that word of mouth now comes in the form of online user-generated content.

With the amount of online review websites and personal blogs, it should come as no surprise that people today are still influenced the most by what others think about a given place, product or service.

According to TurnTo Networks and Ipsos’ joint study, Hearing the Voice of the Customer: UGC and the Commerce Experience, the No. 1 source for people to go to online to help make purchasing decisions is user-generated content (UGC). While UGC outranked search engines (87 percent), promotional emails (79 percent), the study showed 81 percent of consumers are willing to pay more and wait longer for products linked specifically to UGC.

In a sense, this finding proves today’s consumers are becoming more careful with each and every purchase.

TurnTo Networks’ director of research, Jim Davidson, commented on the study and the need for more UGC in marketing efforts.  “Consumers demand a more engaging shopping experience; they’re looking to fellow shoppers to answer questions about products and share insights about purchases. This study demonstrates UGC is outpacing traditional marketing tools when it comes to increasing shopper confidence and influencing decisions. Marketers who want to connect with the consumer must find ways to incorporate UGC into each step of the customer journey – not just the product page.”