Recommendations from friends and reviews/opinions from other consumers are the top most influential factors that help consumers decide what to buy.

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What Influences
Consumers’
Purchases Most?
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://linkd.in/augustinefou
acfou @mktsci .com
March 2014

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Author’s Commentary
“Our research corroborates what Nielsen and
Forrester have found every year since 2010 – that
recommendations from friends and reviews from
other consumers carried the most weight. We dug
further -- 44% of users don’t recall seeing them at
all, and for those who did about 70% don’t think
the ads are useful to their purchase decision. So we
triangulated the answer from different angles and
the data agreed.”
-- Dr. Augustine Fou

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Deloitte April 2014
Source: Deloitte via MarketingCharts April 1, 2014

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Marketing Science March 2014

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Nielsen Q3 2013
http://hk.nielsen.com/new
s/2013-09-19.shtml

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Forrester 2013
Digital “pull”
content
Digital “push”
content (ads)

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Source: Nielsen, April 2012
Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey
Nielsen Q3 2011

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Forrester Research (2010)

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Additional Details

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In the past WEEK, do you recall seeing ANY of the following types of ads?
44% Don’t Recall ANY Ads
Source: Marketing Science Custom Research, March 2014

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Who’s Ignoring Which Ads?
Source: Harris Interactive via MarketingCharts Feb 2014

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70% Don’t Think Ads Help
decisionmaking, but are good for awareness
Source: Marketing Science Custom Research, March 2014
low-cost
item
big-ticket
item
“Which of the following help you decide to
buy a specific low-cost/big-ticket item” N = 1,000

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Closer Look - Comparison
Most useful for
“big ticket” items
Most useful for
“low cost” items
Corroborates the hypothesis that low cost items like soup
and soda need awareness type ads, while big ticket items
like cars and computers need digital ads.

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What Consumers DO Use ...
Source Parago via Marketing Charts March 24, 2014

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big-ticket
item
low-cost
item
Consumers are savvy...

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Dr. Augustine Fou – Chief Digital Strategist
“Our custom survey data corroborates
Nielsen’s findings from 2011 where
‘recommendations from friends’and
‘online consumer opnions/reviews’most
influenced other users’purchases.”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
Augustine Fou@acfou
ClickZ Articles: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-clickz
Slideshares: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-slideshares
LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/augustinefou

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Related Articles
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/digital-advertising-benchmarks-2014-by-
augustine-fou
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/usefulness-of-advertising-by-augustine-fou-
marketing-consigliere
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/mythbusting-tv-advertising-by-augustine-fou
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/effectiveness-of-digital-ads-by-augustine-fou
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/industry-actions-against-digital-ad-fraud-
reported-by-augustine-fou
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/mistargeted-ads-investigated-by-augustine-fou-
technical-forensics
Augustine Fou- 17 -

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Most Effective Advertising
For College Students