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As Social Media Grows, Consumers Trust Their Friends Less

  • Ad Age, Monday, February 8, 2010 10:52 AM
The number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company has dropped from 45% to 25% since 2008, according to Edelman's Trust Barometer survey. It's a result that "strikes at the foundation of many a social-media marketing philosophy," Michael Bush writes.

"The events of the last 18 months have scarred people ...," says Edelman president and CEO Richard Edelman. "It's a more-skeptical time."

It's not that social media doesn't have its place in the marketing quiver, Edelman says, but it's important to realize that it's just one arrow. And it's not as if other sources of information fared all that much better. The credibility of TV dropped 23 points and radio news and newspapers were down 20 points between 2008 and 2010.

On the upside -- and perhaps this should be the lead -- CEOs saw the biggest year-over-year increase to 26%, though they were starting from a low base of 17%. Government officials also rose (22% vs. 27%). Go figure.

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1 comment about "As Social Media Grows, Consumers Trust Their Friends Less ".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, February 8, 2010 at 8:05 p.m.

    Read the study. It's a survey of INFORMED PUBLICS, not "people" -- so do not confuse the two units of analysis. So what if the intelligentsia are jaded and less trustful of the media? They are not the public in the form of Joe Six-Pack. Informed publics are not ordinary people, so why is this study making such a splash...is it because no one is giving it a critical read?

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