Why People Trust TV over Online

eMarketer recently came out with new data that has cast new light into the great media battle. The findings point out just where traditional and online media stand when it comes to the attention of us consumers, and possibly more importantly, where marketers need to be devoting their time and resources.

Like any relevant study, however, there is more than one implication from the findings. One of the key findings is that people still trust TV for news more than any other news source (much more than social media updates, which were dead last) followed by newspapers and radio. 

Online media, even internet-only newsources, were next to last as far as trust, time and attention goes, but the study also points out that online media is where people prefer to research and search for recommendations for a certain product. 

My understanding so far is that we have a cycle where TV, where we put most of our time, reveals to us the brands that we could possibly by. Mainstream brands if you will. Deep down, most people judge a brand on how accepted it is, and we know that a brand that makes enough money to advertise on TV (the most expensive media buy) must be loved by a lot of people. So we put our trust in that brand.

Then we take it one step further. We now know that we like a certain brand but have not decided that we will purchase. Using the internet, either on our phones or at home, we end up searching for the best deals and find out what our friends may think (social search anyone?). From there, the odds of us purchasing said item (after putting all of that work in) are pretty high granted that the brand has made effective online channels and is being spread by positive-word-of-mouth.

The key lesson to take away from eMarketer's findings? It takes more than TV commercials to sell a brand to someone, which is great news for small businesses. Find your niche and master it. Don't waste limited resources you don't have on expensive media buys until it is financially sound to do so. Online media can, will, and constantly does get the job done as long as you, the marketer, are willing to put the work in.

Click here to take a closer look at eMarketer's study.

Jon Negroni is the Director of Public Relations, Promotion, and Marketing at Richter10.2 Media Group. For more information regarding Richter10.2, check out our introduction video here.