|
Ninety Percent of Online Influentials Turn
to Company Web Sites For Corporate Information, But Only 17
Percent Find Them Credible
October 13, 2003
Ninety Percent of Online Influentials
Turn to Company Web Sites For Corporate Information, But Only
17 Percent Find Them Credible
Business Newspapers/Magazines and
Non-Profit Web Sites Rank Among Most Credible Corporate Information
Sources
NEW YORK, October 13, 2003- Almost
all online influentials visit company Web sites to gather
corporate information, but only one in five find the sites
credible, according to a new study released today by Marsteller,
the full-service advertising, design, interactive and productions
agency.
The research was conducted among online
influentials, known as e-fluentialsSM. The study investigated
how these powerful online stakeholders gathered company-related
information. It found that almost all online influentials
(90 percent) visit company Web sites to gather corporate information.
However only one in five (17 percent) finds online corporate
areas credible.
“Online influentials are going
to Web sites in great numbers. There’s an opportunity
here for companies to become thought leaders, differentiate
their brands and build relations with powerful stakeholders
by providing unbiased, accurate and detailed information on
their Web sites,” said Andrew Nibley, Chairman of Marsteller,
the advertising and creative affiliate of public relations
firm Burson-Marsteller.
In this era of intense corporate governance
scrutiny, it is crucial to quench online influentials’
appetite for business information while communicating key
corporate messages. Online influentials consider business
newspapers/magazines (46 percent) and non-profit Web sites
(33 percent) among the most credible corporate information
sources.
“Company Web sites may link to
such third-party sources to support their points of view and
emphasize their candidness. Blending objective information
with corporate advertising elements is the basis for connecting
with influential audiences online,” said Mike McKenna,
President and CEO of Marsteller.
Also according to the survey, online
influentials are most likely to notice a company’s new
products/services (72 percent), brands and slogans (44 percent),
values (39 percent) and vision (38 percent) in corporate advertising.
“Companies weaving these concepts and features into
their Web sites would get the full benefit of online influentials’
attention,” added Erin Byrne, Director of Interactive
Services at Marsteller.
About The E-fluentials Corporate
Advertising Study
The E-fluentials Corporate Advertising
Study was conducted among a panel of individuals who registered
with www.efluentials.com and qualified as online public opinion
leaders after completing a series of questions about their
online communications behavior. To select e-fluentials, a
predictive algorithm was used based on earlier research conducted
by Burson-Marsteller with RoperASW. A total of eighty-two
e-fluentials completed the survey online. The study was administered
between June 11th and July 5th, 2003.
About www.efluentials.com
E-fluentials.com is a Web site dedicated
to Burson-Marsteller’s proprietary research about online
public opinion leaders. The Web site is a resource of viral
marketing news and research, covering studies on e-fluentials
from 1999 to present. Web site visitors can participate in
public opinion polls by taking the e-fluentials quiz and opting-in
to the Burson-Marsteller panel.
About Marsteller
Marsteller is a full-service advertising,
design, interactive and productions agency that is focused
on measuring deliverable results through a full range of communication
disciplines. Operating in Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London,
Milan, New York, Pittsburgh and Washington DC, the agency
focuses on business-to-business, corporate, financial, crisis/issues
and brand-building related projects for clients.
About Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller (www.bm.com),
established in 1953, is a leading global public relations
and communications counseling firm. It provides clients with
strategic thinking and program execution across a full range
of public relations, public affairs, advertising and other
services. The firm’s seamless global network is designed
to deliver premium, integrated services through 46 wholly-owned
offices and 51 affiliate offices, together operating in 58
countries across six continents. In 1979, the firm joined
the Young & Rubicam family of companies, which in October
2000 was acquired by WPP Group plc, one of the world’s
leading communications services groups.
^ top
^
|
