India favours traditional mode of advertising: Nielsen

Word-of-mouth and editorial content in newspaper articles are still the most trusted form of advertising in India, a survey says.

Word-of-mouth and editorial content in newspaper articles are still the most trusted form of advertising in India, a survey says.

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Acording to a survey conducted by global consultancy firm, The Nielsen, Indian respondents voted most in favour of recommendations by acquaintainces (93 per cent) followed by editorial content in newspaper articles (87 per cent), preferring them as most trusted forms of advertising.

"Personal recommendation and editorial content is seen as unbiased information about a product or service and plays a major role in consumer decision making process," Nielsen Consumer Research Associate Director Vatsala Pant said.

The survey named "Nielsen Global Online Consumer" was conducted on more than 2,500 internet consumers in 50 markets across Europe, Asia Pacific, North and Latin America, and the Middle East from March 19 - April 2, 2009. The responses are recorded in the order of priority of the respondents.

Brand websites are next to newspaper articles in trustworthiness and were favoured by 78 per cent Indian respondents.

While consumer opinions posted online is gaining trust world over, traditional forms of advertising like ads in newspapers and TV are still more popular in India with 77 and 76 per cent Indian respondents voting for them, while only 74 per cent preferred opinions posted online.