Online Shares Could Be As Influential As In-Person Recommendations

Recommendations are received with a degree of trust and influence unmatched by any paid media, according to Nielsen. Now, a new study [download page] from ShareThis produced with the Paley Center for Media finds that shared online content (via email or social networking) could have almost the same degree of influence as in-person recommendations, though it’s important to note that the analysis was limited to 3 product types. Nevertheless, the study contains some intriguing findings, also suggesting that the power of shared content exceeds that of consumer reviews. (more…)