Word of mouth is the most influential factor on consumer purchasing decisions in the US for electronics, apparel and home improvement equipment, according to a new report, published by BIGresearch.
Out of a study questioning over 14,000 consumers on advertising influences, BIGresearch found that word of mouth tended to be the biggest factor in the product consideration process for apparel, electronic and home improvement materials. Grocery goods were the exception, where coupons and news inserts are most important.
The report has signalled that web-based media has a varying, but generally smaller influence on the purchase of products than media like news inserts, TV and word of mouth. E-mail and the internet were not as influential on purchasing decisions, with only 17% of US consumers saying e-mail had any influence on their electronic purchases, 13% for apparel, 9% for grocery and 7% for home improvement.
Similarly, the study found that 19% of consumers said that the internet influenced their electronics purchases, compared to just 11% who said the internet affected their apparel purchases. A further 9% felt it affected their grocery purchases and 8% found it was a factor in their home improvement purchases.
Taken together, web-based media was found to be influential for almost 36% of consumers looking to purchase electronics, cited by more respondents than any other media. Although 24% of respondents claimed either e-mail or the internet influenced their decision to purchase clothing, the e-mail and the internet trailed other media in terms of being an influence on their clothing, grocery and home improvement buying decisions.
Results from the study showed that online was weaker in terms of influencing consumers purchases directly related to the home, but as strong as TV for electronics and clothing purchases.
A survey by internet research group, Nielsen//NetRatings has found that US shoppers, who were buying online during 2004, got much of their information from offline sources. Although search engines and “seeing products on a web site” were the two top ways shoppers found gifts to buy online during the holiday season, word of mouth, “seeing them in a catalogue” and “seeing them in a store” were not far behind.
UK research published in April last year, by media agency Mediaedge:cia, also urged advertisers to exploit the influences of word of mouth as an integral part of marketing campaigns. The study showed that over three quarters of respondents cited word of mouth as their main influence when deciding whether or not to purchase a product, while only 15% claimed that advertising helped them to make a decision.
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