more tap or more talk? nielsen: consumers are playing both sides of the field

Jakarta, 24 January 2020 – Nielsen’s Real Life vs. Digital Life report shows that although consumers are actively engaging
online, word of mouth or real life conversation have a stronger influence on
consumers’ minds and, therefore, their purchasing decisions. More than half of
respondents (58%) confirm that word of mouth influences them highly (vs 46%
social media) and 71% indicate real life conversations make an impact on their
purchasing decisions.

“Word of mouth has
always been and remains one of the greatest enablers for marketers in the
battles for consumers hearts and minds, and it is crucial to understand the way
you can leverage its opportunities for your brand”, says Sue Temple,
Vice-President, Global Consumer Insights, Nielsen. “It is easier for us to
trust people we know — friends, spouses, colleagues — than unknown
personalities on social media so to unlock this opportunity for business more
efforts need to be put into a positive experience, which will encourage your
customers to share within their personal network,” she concludes

The more they use, the less they trust

Global
consumers tend to go digital and use social networks more often, nevertheless
when it comes to trust, they still rely on more traditional channels –
newspapers with a Trust to usage index^[1]
of 240, outdoor/billboards 178 points and magazines 162, contrary to
Internet/digital media with a much lower index of 78. Millennials happen to be
the most loyal audience for all channels, with newspapers being the most
trusted channel (index of 356) for them, on the flipside, Baby Boomers are
skeptical towards all channels but still have a preference for newspapers
(189), and the Silent generation has a clear preference to newspapers (index of
241).

 “With social networks rising in popularity
over the last decade it is no surprise their use, spread among all generations,
is leaking into consumer’s everyday life. Nevertheless, the quality of digital
communication hasn’t developed at the same pace, and having been burned too
many times, when dealing with fake news, frauds and data breaches consumers
respond with less trust to information shared via new media,” confirms Sue
Temple.

A
regional focus showcases that Australia, Germany and Korea, are ahead of the
curve with word of mouth dominance over social media, showing it with the
strongest “influence level” on consumers minds and purchasing decisions. Furthermore, manufacturers and
retailers should be mindful when allocating their marketing and advertising
budgets between” Tap” and “Talk” across markets as the most trusted media
differs by country with a skew towards digital media in Mexico and Turkey (71%
and 61% respectively) versus a more even split between TV and digital media in
Australia and Germany (34%-35% for each media in both countries).

The
reasons to go digital varies across the regions, but on the top of the list is
when consumers seek recommendations (46%), find it interesting to read
something online (42%) or wish to share the experience (38%). Most consumers
express their personal opinions in real life because they are sharing the
experience (45%), remarking on exclusive deals and offers (42%), and would like
to recommend good products (42%).

“With that being said, consumers are taking the role
of observer when online: they are on the lookout for information about the
product, and a relevant and interesting content may inspire consumers to take
the dialogue offline. It’s crucial to understand the link between the two —

^[1] Trust to usage index is the ratio of consumers
who use the media most often to trusting the media most often

digital
and real life — and what triggers having a broader discussion about the brand.
Clearly, real life conversations remain consumers’ comfort zone; a way to share
true emotions with their community. When impressed by the experience, they can
easily become your brand ambassadors,” adds Temple.

At the same time, more consumers prefer to talk about brands in person rather than posting online; and countries with the dominance of an older generation — Australia, Germany and South Korea — are at the head of the trend, contrary to Indonesia and Thailand, where consumers prefer to post more about their experience with the brand. “These regional differences have a direct impact on the efficiency of marketing campaigns. Knowing who are the most probable influencers will help in sharpening brands’ social media campaigns.” concludes Temple.

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About Nielsen Survey

The
Nielsen Digital vs. Real Life survey was conducted among more than 3,300
consumers across 11 countries – Australia, China, Germany, India, Indonesia,
Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey. The
fieldwork was conducted from September 23rd to October 4th, 2019. The sample is
sourced from external sample providers. The sample includes Internet users who
agreed to participate in this survey and has quotas based on age and sex for
each country. It is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers by
country. Data is weighted at the country level using the total online
population. Quotas are reviewed at a country level by Data Science. This
Nielsen survey is based on the behaviour of respondents with online access
only. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum
reporting standard of 60% Internet penetration or 10 million online population
for survey inclusion. At a country level where the sample is 300, the margin of
error is ± 5.7% at 95% confidence interval, meaning the movement needs to be
bigger than this to be noteworthy.