Do you ever feel overwhelmed when browsing online? You’re not alone. According to new research from Carat, more than half of people have stopped surfing the internet for content and products because of an overload of choice and information.
Of the 11,000 British consumers surveyed, 55% of internet users said that they only use two or three trusted sites for their content discovery and purchasing, with the top five trusted sites belonging to the BBC, Amazon, BBC Online, Google and ITV.
The study also reveals that 41% of people feel overwhelmed by the wealth of choice on the web, which makes it difficult for them to make purchase decisions, while 26% feel there is so much information on the net that it is hard for them to find what they are looking for when shopping online.
The research also found that a third prefer to trust friends’ recommendations on social media than ads, with 44% looking at content uploaded by friends at least once a week and 29% checking posts shared by friends at least once a day.
Millennials in particular rely on friends’ recommendations on social media with 49% saying that they trust personal recommendations from friends more than ads and 33% saying that they would visit a site if it is recommended via a social network.
“Whilst there will always be a small population of people who will make the effort to explore the landscape for new and interesting content, services and diversions, the vast majority need the advice of trusted friends and brands to help them navigate an increasingly saturated content ecosystem,” said Carat’s chief strategy officer, Dan Hagen.
“This opens several interesting opportunities and challenges for brands. Smart content, and crucially, distribution strategies combined with innovative approaches to partnership can help advertisers redefine their content strategies, cutting through this noise to deliver the right content to the right person at the right time, driving real business value.”
