Online readers trust bloggers more than they do journalists, the mainstream media or traditional marketers, according to this Advertising Age article.
One of the big reasons blogs have such impact is their credibility among readers. In a February poll from We Media and Zogby Interactive, 72% of adults said they were dissatisfied with the quality of American journalism today. Another 55% said bloggers are important to the future of American journalism, and 74% said citizen journalism will play a vital role, according to the poll.
Consumers are also taking bloggers’ word before they buy. A late 2006 Ipsos MORI survey found that blogs were a more trusted source of information than advertising or e-mail marketing. One-third of respondents said they had decided not to buy a product after reading a negative blog post, while 52% were persuaded to buy after reading a positive review.
Ad Age also links to an interesting demographic profile (PDF) of bloggers that should help advertisers hone their pitches to us. For instance, 59 percent of us floss daily and 63 percent never go to church.
Andrew Careaga 