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OUR NEW DIGITAL FRIEND? WE NOW TRUST ONLINE NEWS AS MUCH AS WE TRUST TV AND NEWSPAPERS

December 15th, 2008

Blogs Are Least Trusted Sources of Information

(New York, December 15, 2008) — We now trust the information we get from online news to the same degree as news information from TV and information / recommendations from friends. But we have a poor opinion of blogs, ranking them the least trustworthy way of understanding the world around us. These are some of the findings in a new study entitled Digital World, Digital Life, from global market insight group TNS.

Conducted in 16 countries, Digital World, Digital Life examines online behavior and perspectives around the world. More than 27,000 survey participants were asked to select from 13 sources of information: online news, blogs, Wikipedia, company websites, trade website reviews, user forum reviews, product comparison sites, TV news, paid-for newspapers, free newspapers, company brochures, industry magazines and friends’ recommendations. Respondents were asked to rate a variety of information sources on a scale of 1 (don’t trust at all) to 10 (trust completely).

On a global basis, four out of ten of respondents (42%) highly trust  good old recommendations from friends. The US place an even higher emphasis on word of mouth with 48 percent trusting recommendations from friends.   The Chinese put most trust in friendly recommendations at 56%

Globally, a roughly equal number highly trust TV news (41%), online news (40%) and newspapers (39%). Three countries – the US, France and Italy – now claim to trust online news more than they do TV news. In the US, the results were 38% trust online vs 33% for TV news and 34% newspapers, while for France the figures were 28% online vs 24% TV news, 24% newspapers. In Italy, around four of ten respondents (41%) trust online news and less than a quarter (24%) trust TV news.  Scandinavians surveyed by TNS have the highest level of trust of all in respect to online news, with around half of all respondents in Finland (54%), Sweden (50%), Norway (48%) and Denmark (48%) trusting this medium.

In the UK a strong distrust of traditional newspapers stands out with only 23% saying they trust this information source, a much lower score than online news (40%).

Blogs are almost universally distrusted with only one in ten trusting them globally.  Norway, The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden are particularly distrustful at only 5%    The Chinese and Koreans were much more trusting of the medium at 24% and 22% respectively.  In the US 9% of respondents trusted blogs.

Don Ryan, VP Technology and Media, TNS, said  “It’s heartening to see how well online users are able to gauge their media.  Whether using new or traditional media, trust of the source of information is paramount. Online blogs clearly have no real accountability.  Although they may be a great source of entertainment and a useful source of information and reviews they are clearly highly subjective.  The move of traditional news media into the online space has ensured that the trust of traditional media has spread into to online-only sources too.”

There were quite marked variations in the levels of trust for particular countries. Chinese respondents were the most trusting of all nations on all but one of the information sources discussed. The exception in China is Wikipedia, with only around a quarter (26%) of Chinese respondents seeing Wikipedia as trustworthy. This is in comparison to respondents in Germany, where just over half (52%) say they trust the site. In Germany, Wikipedia scored the highest level of trust among all the 13 information sources identified in the survey.

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About Digital World, Digital Life
TNS completed analysis of the results of its 16-country study into online behaviour and perspectives around the world at the end of 2008. A total of 27,522 people aged 18 to 55 years old were interviewed online in the following countries: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The research focused on four themes. First, the survey looked at how we are using the internet for entertainment, information and commerce. Second, the survey analysed whether people are using online channels when making major life decisions – health, family, education, investment etc. Third, how far has social media developed? Last, how much trust do people have in online sources of information versus traditional media or straightforward recommendations from friends?

About TNS
TNS is a global market information and insight group.

Its strategic goal is to be recognized as the global leader in delivering value-added information and insights that help its clients make more effective business decisions.

TNS delivers innovative thinking and excellent service across a network of 80 countries.  Working in partnership with clients, TNS provides high-quality information, analysis and insight that improves understanding of consumer behavior.

TNS is the world’s leading provider of customized services, combining sector knowledge with expertise in the areas of Product Development & Innovation, Brand & Communications, Stakeholder Management and Retail & Shopper.  TNS is a major supplier of consumer panel, media intelligence and audience measurement services.

TNS is the sixth sense of business™.
For more information about TNS, please visit www.tns- us.com

The Kantar Group
The Kantar Group is one of the world's largest research, insight and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of more than 20 specialist companies – including the recently-acquired TNS – the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and actionable insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 80 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.  The Kantar Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPP Group plc. For further information, please visit www.kantargrouptns.com