• Brandweek, Friday, September 1, 2006 1:45 PM

Emerging media platforms like blogs and public forums are becoming increasingly attractive to marketers seeking new ways to reach their audience. But new research shows that consumers are skeptical of such venues. A report from Jupiter Research revealed that only 21 percent of consumers trust product information within such media when considering a purchase. Conversely, consumers are twice as likely to trust information on a corporate Web site or a professional review site, such as Edmunds.com. Still, marketers appear more than willing to take the chance; about 20 percent of advertisers surveyed indicated they planned to use viral marketing next year, mostly for branding purposes. "New viral marketers will adopt advertising within blogs and social sites just as heavily as experienced viral marketers, and will also place increasing brand awareness ahead of direct-response goals," according to the survey, which was conducted in April among 273 U.S. advertisers and 4,182 consumers. The study also revealed a split between experienced viral marketers and novices regarding spending. One half of all experienced viral marketers spend more than 40 percent of their total ad budgets online. That's twice the percentage that those with no experience in viral advertising spend.

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