What influences the influencers? LoyalTV.com, an online consumer loyalty and feedback site, surveyed 184 Fortune 1000 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to find out what factors influence the professionals who, in turn, influence consumer purchasing.
According to the results of the survey, peer testimonial outweighs traditional advertising mediums in determining what products the CMOs purchase. Additionally, the survey reports:
• 44 percent of the subjects are loyal to brands, with Federal Express and The Weather Channel being cited most frequently.
• A good restaurant will make even the most cynical CMO loyal, with 78 percent of respondents being a regular at their preferred dining spot.
— 44 percent will not be doing their holiday shopping this December at the same places that they shopped at last year.
"While it may come as a surprise to some people that a trusted friend is more influential in influencing a purchase than that million dollar spot on the Super Bowl, we weren’t surprised in the least to see the results of this survey," says co-founder of LoyalTV.com, Courtney Jones. "This data further confirmed our insights in launching a new business model where real people are giving their real opinions. As many marketers have long suspected, brand building via word-of-mouth is the hottest and most rapidly growing area of building brands today."
CMOs also seem to be taking a personal stance regarding their purchasing habits, with 71 percent of those surveyed saying that a company's environmental policy would make them more loyal. And, when asked about factors influencing car purchasing decisions, the top three answers were recommendations from friends (23%), followed by environmental concerns (22%), and loyalty to brand (17%). Interestingly, only 7 percent were influenced by advertising.
RSS
