As a public relations firm that specializes in marketing to women, we are always interested in how social media affects consumer decisions. We posted recently about statistics that show women to put a great deal of stock in their friends' opinions about the products they use and how friends' reviews influence their own purchasing decisions.

Some new research from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University helps to support the claim that we place a high level of trust in the opinions of folks we connect with via social media, even when we've never met them in real life. (via Poynter.org)

When asked "What's the most believable source on Twitter?" survey respondents answered "a retweet from someone you trust" followed by "a tweet from someone with 'verified author expertise' in the subject." Blogger Dirk Singer notes how this not only shows the "power of peer recommendations" but also "how false information can spread quickly online."

Another trust factor that ranked highly was the Twitter verification mark.

Singer goes to cite how "tweets from twitter followers inspire the least credibility concerns, with ones found via search having the highest."

A study published in searchengineland (via Simply Zesty) says 72% trust online reviews as much as they do recommendations from friends.

In all, 58% say positive customer reviews would make them trust a business more, 25% say they have no impact and 17% pay no attention to them.

FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.