Internet influences Indians more than friends & families

In today’s world, internet is increasingly playing an important role in our daily lives. From someone who is aged 7 years to someone who is 70 years, internet offers them wealth of information & advice on travel, leisure, personal finance, buying electronic items & many such things.

Internet has now become so ubiquitous to millions of Indians, that it now influences them more compared to their friends & families. This is the finding of Digital Influence Index survey conducted by market research firm Fleishman-Hillard & Harris Interactive.

Compared to their global peers, Indians & Chinese are the ones who are most influenced by internet. In India, 79% of them said that internet influences them more than family & friends. The report says that the anonymity of the Internet holds greater sway with consumers in influencing purchasing and other decisions – greater even than the opinions of family, friends and co-workers.

Global Digital Influence Index

The third edition of Digital Influence Index studies consumers from 8 countries – Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States – to see what consumers are doing online but also whom they’re interacting with, the transactions they’re completing, technologies they’re using to navigate the Web and the collective growing influence of the Internet on
consumer behavior.

Its just not about discounts when “liking” brands

It is a popular belief that consumers follow Businesses & Brands primarily to get know offers and discounts. However, the report points that it is not the primary reason why consumers follow brands. They are genuinely interested in know more about the brand. 79 percent of respondents from China, Germany and India follow brands on social media because they want to learn more about the brand, product or service offered.

Consumers confidence in bloggers remains low

Now this is something that may not be happy news for bloggers (including yours truly). The report says that globaly only 26 percent consumers indicated that they trusted the advice and opinions found in blogs. Additionally, 86 percent of consumers question the truthfulness of a
post written by a blogger who has received a free sample in exchange for writing a review.

Although consumers continue to rely heavily on the Internet to inform purchasing decisions, bloggers are struggling to achieve the credibility of other online sources.

The silver lining though is that in China (40%) & India (36%) consumers showed highest trust in blog opinions.

Check out the entire  Digital Influence Index whitepaper here.