79% of ‘younger consumers’ trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
A recent poll by BrightLocal.com, the local SEO tools company, finds that 69% of people trust online customer reviews as much as personal recommendations. This figure rises to 79% among 16-34 year olds polled, while older consumers are less likely to trust online opinions of strangers.
The Local Consumer Review Survey examines the role that online consumer reviews play in the research and purchase of local business services. The survey conducted an online poll of 2,012 local consumers across the US & UK.
Key Survey Findings
Across the board this new survey finds that younger consumers are more likely to read as well as trust online reviews, while female consumers are more likely than men to believe online reviews and to purchase from a local business after reading positive reviews.
Age vs. sage...
- - Younger consumers use the internet more regularly to find good local businesses;
- - 11% of 16-34 year olds using it almost EVERY day;
- - 16-34 year olds (68%) consult online reviews more than people aged 55+ (60%);
- - More 16-34 year olds (79%) trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations than people aged 55+ (62%)
Trust vs. influence...
- - 58% of respondents said that reading positive online reviews makes them trust local businesses more;
- - But only 49% said that they would be more likely to actually use a local business based on reading online reviews.
Men vs. Women...
- - Women (68%) read online customer reviews fractionally more than men (66%);
- - Women (74%) are also more trusting of online reviews than male consumers (67%)
US vs. UK
The most revealing insights in the survey are the differing attitudes between US & UK consumers.
- - US consumers (79%) use the internet more regularly to find local businesses than UK consumers (77%)
- - US consumers (71%) read online reviews more than UK consumers (61%)
But...
- - UK consumer (62%) are influenced by positive reviews more than US (55%)
- - UK consumers (73%) trust online reviews more than US (67%)
Full survey findings & charts can be found here - Local Consumer Survey Findings
Customer reviews influence online visibility as well as consumer behaviour
As well as influencing the purchasing decisions of local consumers, online customer reviews play an important part in how local consumers find local businesses in the first place.
Myles Anderson, Founder of BrightLocal.com explains, "Local search engines such as Google Places & online directories use online consumer reviews as a factor in how they rank a local business. This directly effects how prominent your business is and how many internet users see your business listing. So the more reviews your business has and the better the sentiment of those reviews, the more local customers you'll attract through the internet"
---------About the Local Consumer Review Survey
The survey was conducted online using an anonymous pool of 2,012 local consumers based in the UK (874 respondents) and US (1,138 respondents). The survey was conducted from 30th September to 9th October 2010.
Full survey data (Uk, US & combined data) can be viewed online at http://www.brightlocal.com/blog/surveyAbout BrightLocal.com
BrightLocal.com is a London based local SEO company that specialises in building SEO tools specifically for the local SEO market. BrightLocal.com was formed in 2009 by two experienced internet marketeers & web developers (Myles Anderson & Ed Eliot) and is currently rolling out a suite of unique local SEO tools for local businesses and local SEOs & web-designers. BrightLocal’s tools currently serve the UK & US markets but further territories will be added throughout 2011. BrightLocal also provide local SEO consultancy and support to all types of local businesses based in London and across the United Kingdom.
Spokesperson contact
Myles Anderson, Founder, BrightLocal.com
myles@brightlocal.com
+44 027 183 0479
Published by Myles Anderson on 29th November 2010
