Influence of consumer generated content on consumers August 6, 2007
Posted by uknetmonitor in Uncategorized.trackback
Consumers are increasingly turning to online reviews when booking holidays according to new research from Nielsen//NetRatings.
The findings could have implications for a whole range of industry sectors. If if applies to travel, then why not retail, or finance, or technology. People power is taking over.
Some 62 per cent of Britons online use search engines when booking holidays and 36 per cent use travel agents’ own websites, however, sites posting user reviews are considered the most trustworthy.
When asked which online source do you trust to give you ‘the most reliable information of all’ user generated content sites like TripAdvisor were cited by 21 per cent of respondents ahead of 15 per cent each for review sites like TimeOut.com and official local information sites such as Visit Scotland.com.
Travel agents’ own sites such as ThomasCook.com were considered the most reliable by 12 per cent of Britons online compared with just 11 per cent who selected search engines.
Planning Director at Harvest Digital, Mike Teasdale, comments, “This research shows that user reviews are not just one of the factors that consumers use to decide between different holidays, but are the most trusted information source of all.
“Recent moves like the Guardian’s new travel portal featuring user generated content and the launch of WAYN suggest that the industry is waking up to the importance of consumer opinions to travel choices.
He adds, ”This has implications for all kinds of non-generic services and not just travel. For example, students choosing between different colleges are now very likely to look for the opinions of current alumni before making a decision.”
User-generated content sites are more likely to be seen as trustworthy by women than men and, when it comes to age, are most trusted by 25-34 year olds.
However, the validity of user reviews are truly championed by the travel industry’s most important group – frequent travellers.
One half of Britons online who take more than five week-plus holidays each year, regard user generated reviews the most reliable – making this group two and a half times more likely than the average online holidaymaker to do so.
Some 33 per cent of frequent travellers regard review websites as the most reliable source of information as do one third of respondents who take four holidays per year.
Travel agents will be concerned to hear that nobody taking more than three holidays per year considered them to be the most reliable source of information.
Their advocates are most likely to be those who take just one holiday per year – one fifth of this group considering travel agent sites to be the most reliable source – a group that is unlikely to rely most on user reviews.
Although the reliance on user reviews decreases with age, it is still valued by the older generation with 21 per cent of Britons online aged 45-54 and 18 per cent of those aged 55-64 citing it as the most reliable source.
The over-65’s view online tourist guides as the most reliable online source and this group is the only one more likely to consult a newspaper or magazine article than use a search engine to research their holidays.
European Corporate Development Director at Adviva, Fiona McKinnon, adds, “The research reveals that consumers are not only using a variety of online sources when researching holiday destinations, but they are also becoming more informed in deciding who they want to travel with.
“It is important, therefore, that travel companies advertise to a wide reach to encompass the young and old, men and women and also the frequent traveller alongside those who’s holiday is a major annual event’
The final word goes to European Internet Analyst at Nielsen//Netratings, Alex Burmaster, who continues, “It is absolutely vital for the travel industry to understand and embrace the revolution of peer-to-peer content online.
“Whether you refer to it as user-generated content, the ‘people’s Internet’ or Web 2.0, travellers are turning to the collective knowledge and opinion of people they trust the most when booking holidays – each other, not you.’
The research cross referenced trusted sources of information against type of holidays people book online. People booking long-haul, fly-drives or city breaks were more likely to trust online review sites compared with those booking a beach holiday or activity break.
Sites with reviews by other travellers were considered reliable by all Britons online, especially 22 per cent of beach holiday-makers and 20 per cent of long-haul travellers.
The research was commissioned by Adviva and online marketing agency Harvest Digital and conducted through Nielsen//NetRatings and Adviva. 863 completed questionnaires were collected.
http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Article.aspx?id=1169
Impact of user reviews on travel purchases
UKnetmonitor has picked up some research we did earlier this year on the UK travel industry. Their article is titled ‘Influence of blogs on consumers’ – which is slightly misleading… what we were really looking at was the impact of…
Quite right. The heading should have referred to consumer generated comment. Now changed.
The suggestion of more research into “whether social networks like Facebook will become even more influential than vertically-based review sites ” is interesting. Looking across all forms of user generated comment: social networks, blogs, discussion forums and so on, the thing that strikes us is that comment on, for example airlines, can be found in the most unexpected places – motorbike forums, parenting chat rooms, golfers blogs, you name it, as well as on the well known travel review sites. Whether this is more influential is open to question, but there may be some truth in the notion that when seeking opinion on an airline a customer is more likely to be influenced by the views of a fellow like-minded golfer (mother/biker), than simply another flyer.
[...] has been the centerpiece of the so called Travel 2.0 debate. Many (e.g. UKNetMonitor and m-Travel) have referred to reports by Nielsen//NetRating and EyeforTravel earlier this year. [...]