Today’s consumers are not supposed to believe in branded content or user reviews when making buying decisions. Instead, they are likely to be influenced by third-party expert content providers.
According to latest research, expert content providers, like product reviews or articles from third-party websites and blogs, was 83% more effective at lifting product purchase considerations than user reviews. They are also 38% more effective than branded content.
The research surveyed 900 consumers, measuring their responses to different forms of content marketing for nine separate product types, ranging from smartphones and video games to car seats, new automobiles and auto insurance. The study analyzed how the different types of content marketing (especially expert content, branded content and user reviews) impacted product affinity and familiarity, as well as purchase considerations. The result is quite surprising: not only were consumers more likely to be influenced by expert content when making purchases, the study also found that expert content from third-party sources also had a greater impact on product affinity and familiarity. Here is an excerpt from the result:
On average, expert content lifted familiarity 88 percent more than branded content and 50 percent more than user reviews; they lifted affinity 50 percent more than branded content and 20 percent more than user reviews.
While expert content had a greater influence overall, the study revealed that branded content had the most impact in categories where product specifications were a critical component of the evaluation process, such as smartphones or TVs.
On the other hand, user reviews were most valuable for products where users were considered to have a “higher degree” of product expertise. For instance, although expert content was most effective at increasing familiarity and affinity, user content provided the strongest lift to purchase intent in car seats.
Here is the detail of how expert content, user reviews and branded content impacted the different stages of the buying process for all nine product categories:
