SYDNEY: Australians engage in more conversations about brands than their American counterparts, according to a landmark study on the Australian word-of-mouth market.
Contrary to a perception that Australians are less affected by marketing than Americans who spend more time discussing brands, Aussie consumers mention brands 68 times a week, while American consumers mention brands 65.7 times a week.
The vast majority of peer recommendations among Australian consumers take place face-to-face, with 82% compared to 77% in the US. A much lower 10% are conveyed over the phone, rising to 14% in the US.
The study sounded a cautionary warning to brands who neglect customer service, with personal experience of customer experience cited as the strongest catalyst for word-of-mouth.
An overwhelming 82% of Australian consumers indicated customer experience, the same percentage among US consumers. But just 14% of Australians were more influenced by the internet, with TV and newspapers accounting for 14% and 5% respectively.
Word-of-mouth marketing agency Soup claims the study is the first of its kind on the Australian market. The survey, which interviewed 2,831 respondents aged between 16 and 69 in May, was carried out by US word-of-mouth research specialist Keller Fay in conjunction with media agency MindShare. The report estimates that 1.2 billion "branded conversations" occur in Australia every year.
Despite falling trust and confidence in business amid the fall out from the GFC, as many as 61% of conversations were classed as positive, compared to 66% in the US.
Telstra and Optus came out on top among brands in terms of mentions, followed by Coles, and US brands Apple and Coca-Cola.
However, Apple led the way in terms of positive mentions, followed by Coles, Sony, Coca-Cola and Holden.
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