Advertising Influences 90 Percent of Consumers to Buy, Study Says

A new study seems to suggest advertising does work! The study found advertising influences almost all consumers (90 percent) to make a purchase. It specifically influences 81 percent of Millennials and 57 percent of Baby Boomers ages 55 and older to make a purchase.

But in the age of social media where anyone can create and disseminate information on social networking websites, the study finds that consumers consider ads found in more traditional media like print and television to be more trustworthy than online and social ads.

Can you really blame people for trusting traditional media more, with Fake News rampant online?

Consumers Have More Trust in Traditional Versus Digital Advertising

According to the research firm Clutch, which surveyed 1,030 consumers from across the U.S. to determine how advertising influences consumers in their purchasing decisions, advertising through television is seen as the most trustworthy.

Sixty-one percent of consumers surveyed trust TV, print (58 percent), radio/podcasts (45 percent), and out-of-home, such as billboards and public transit (4 percent), per the study. Consumers ultimately make purchases after seeing or hearing an advertisement on TV (60 percent), in print (45 percent), online (43 percent), and on social media (42 percent).

The least trustworthy advertising mediums are online (41 percent) and social media (38 percent).

“Respondents distrust online and social media advertisements because they are unregulated and easy for companies to create,” Kristen Herhold, Content Developer and Marketer at Clutch, explained in a post announcing the study findings on the company’s official blog.

Businesses Still Need to Advertise in Multiple Mediums

Businesses that want to reach consumers during their everyday activities, whether it’s watching TV, reading a magazine or browsing on social media, therefore, need to advertise in multiple mediums.

“We live in an information-obsessed world. If a company were to come out and not do any advertising, the chances of them surviving are pretty slim,” says Julie Wierzbicki, an account director at Giants and Gentlemen, an advertising and design agency.

But while the most trustworthy advertising channel is traditional media, many times the ads on this media are priced out of the range of many small businesses. Sometimes traditional media isn’t even an option for small businesses, particularly those based online only. Local small businesses, however, should especially keep these survey findings in mind when planning their advertising to reach customers near them.

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This article, "Advertising Influences 90 Percent of Consumers to Buy, Study Says" was first published on Small Business Trends