WOMBAT CONFERENCE, SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2006 – GfK Roper Consulting today announced the results of its Global Word-of-Mouth Study, which found that consumers worldwide cite people as the most “trustworthy” source for purchase ideas and information. In fact, 70% of consumers across the globe trust friends, family, or other people when searching for information or ideas on products to buy. This study confirms that the United States is not the only country experiencing the word-of-mouth phenomenon.

Interestingly, advertising ranks second as a trustworthy source globally. Editorial content follows advertising at 55% and online resources rank fourth at 18%.

“We now know that people hold the power in the global marketplace,” says Hetty Fore, Vice President and Product Manager for GfK Roper Consulting. “Accessing the word-of-mouth network is no longer optional… success will be dependent on using this channel wisely.”


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The full report is available at the GfK Roper Consulting website.

About GfK Roper Consulting
With offices in the US and UK, GfK Roper Consulting is a division of The GfK Group. Offering over 30 years of syndicated research and analysis, GfK Roper Consulting is responsible for Roper Reports® U.S. and Roper Reports® Worldwide, the most up-to-the-minute view of the consumer marketplace in the U.S. and around the globe.

About The GfK Group
With home offices in Nuremberg, Germany, the GfK Group is among the top-five market research organizations in the world. Its activities cover five business divisions: Custom Research, Retail and Technology, Consumer Tracking, Media and Healthcare. In addition to 13 subsidiaries in Germany, the GfK Group has more than 130 subsidiaries and affiliates in more than 70 countries.
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Internet Research

Trust in Advertising - ‘Word-of-mouth’: the most powerful selling tool
Produced by The Nielson Company, October 2007
“The recommendation of someone else remains the most trusted source of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy.” 78% of respondents said they trusted - either completely or somewhat – the recommendation of other consumers.
The Internet in Britain: 2007
Produced by Oxford Internet Surveys, 2007
“Getting information about and buying products are popular commercial uses of the Internet, but doubts remain about quality assessment of the products bought online and the lack of face-to-face contact.” 59% think it is difficult to assess product quality when shopping on the Internet. 37% are uncomfortable with the lack of face-to-face contact.
“The fact that consumers think opinions posted online are as trustworthy as brand Web sites speaks to the power of online reviews and recommendations. It also means that marketers need to focus as much attention on what consumers say about their brands online as they do on creating the brand Web sites themselves. The easiest thing to do is to make consumer feedback an essential part of every brand Web site.

In all these studies, word of mouth has more of an impact than traditional forms of advertising. Having a word-of-mouth marketing strategy is becoming essential for marketers.”Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.