Word-of-mouth key in Vietnam consumption
Word-of-mouth key in Vietnam consumption
Across Southeast Asia, 88 per cent of consumers placed the highest level of trust in word-of-mouth recommendations from people they know. Word-of-mouth endorsements gathered the highest increase in approval from Vietnamese consumers, up eight points to 89 per cent, according to a Nielsen report released on September 30.
Filipino consumers lead the way at 91 per cent in trust of word-of-mouth recommendations, followed by Vietnamese and Indonesians (89 per cent), Malaysians (86 per cent), Singaporeans (83 per cent), and Thais (82 per cent).
“Undoubtedly, word-of-mouth recommendations enjoy the biggest trust from consumers and combined with the power of digital formats its potency can reach optimum levels,” said Mr. Craig Johnson, Head of Reach Solutions in Southeast Asia, North Asia and Pacific at Nielsen.
According to Mr. Johnson, mastering online word-of-mouth marketing techniques can result in a quicker and viral reach. Brand marketers can widen the circle of trust of consumers by engaging passionate brand advocates to amplify their message and giving them a compelling reason to talk.
“Trust is fragile,” he added. “Practice transparency and accountability because if trust is broken, your advocates also have the power to damage credibility and reputation.”
Owned online channels are also among the most trusted advertising formats in Vietnam, with branded websites as the second-most-trusted format, at 83 per cent. Meanwhile, 75 per cent of Vietnamese survey respondents indicate that they trust consumer opinions posted online.
Ads on television, magazines, and newspapers continue to be among the most trusted forms of paid advertising in Vietnam.Nearly 70 per cent Vietnamese consumers indicated their trust in television ads, above the global average of 63 per cent. Sixty-five per cent of consumers in Vietnam continue to trust ads in magazines and 60 per cent in newspaper ads and radio ads.
Among paid ads online, Vietnamese consumers put the most trust in served ads in search engine results, with 55 per cent. The credibility of online video ads, ads in social networks, and online banner ads closely follow, at 52 per cent, 48 per cent, and 45 per cent, respectively.
The Nielsen report also revealed that although trust and action are clearly linked, credibility is not always a prerequisite to purchase intent.
In Vietnam, action exceeds trust across the 19 advertising formats in the survey. Respondents that trust the recommendations of people they know claim they take action on these opinions the majority of the time (93 per cent vs. trust at 89 per cent) while self-reported action for branded websites and ads on TV are at 89 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively.
Advertising that is family-oriented was the most likely to resonate among Vietnamese consumers, while ads that are health-themed, humorous, and feature real-life situations also fared well, according to the report.
Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey polled 30,000 online respondents in 60 countries to gauge consumer sentiment in 19 forms of paid, earned, and owned advertising mediums. The results identify the ad formats resonating most strongly with consumers and those that have room to grow.
