Blog Believers

According to ipsos MORI, which, according to ipsos MORI is the second largest research firm in the U.K., blogging is now the second most trusted source for product information among those surveyed. People apparently have more faith in the opinions of strangers than those of seasoned reviewers or the companies selling the products.

While I think it’s amazing and wonderful that blogs are now used more than TV ads in product-buying decisions, I’m really not surprised. If you’ve ever worked in marketing, you’ll understand why. Companies will NEVER tell you about the shortcomings of their products, they will only emphasize and overemphasize the good things. To do otherwise would simply violate the principles of marketing. So why people don’t trust TV ads from big companies as much as average Joes reviewing the products should be a no-brainer.

On the other hand, there are numerous companies out there who make their revenue reviewing products, companies like Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, CNET, Tom’s Hardware, and PC Magazine, to name just a few. These companies are highly experienced in reviewing products and have built up great reputations as trusted sources over the years. So why are more people turning to blogs before they make their final purchase decisions? In truth, many of these review sites are paid by the companies, which make the products they review. I’m no saying they’re necessarily on the company payroll, but they get other benefits. The main benefit is ad income. Just take a look at these sites and you’ll see ads for the products they represent. This puts them in a conundrum: say what you really feel about a product and risk losing the ad revenue. Another perk is free product. The review sites are usually shipped new products to review. They don’t have to go stand in long lines and plunk down money at the store to get the latest hot gadget—no, companies ship them stuff for free, often weeks before a product release. And they do this not to get an honest opinion of their product, they do this for cheap advertising and for good sound bites which they can use as “unbiased” opinions on their products which they can, in turn, use for additional marketing oomph.

So all hail the product blog from the average Joe or Jane. We may not be the most polished reviewers on the block, but taken as a collective we have more unbiased opinions and experiences than the largest reviewers could ever possibly payroll, and we’ll really tell you what we think.

Survey via Yahoo via Reuters