Despite technological breakthroughs in advertising, there is still no substitute for word-of-mouth advertising. In the recent Nielsen Internet Survey in 47 markets worldwide, 78% of the 26,486 respondents rely on recommendations from consumers.




"And even though new media technologies are playing a role in 'globalizing' society, many purchasing decisions are still based on firmly held national and cultural attitudes. Furthermore, given that nothing travels faster than bad news - with estimates that reports of bad experiences outnumber good service reports by as many as 5:1 - the importance of responsive, high quality customer service is yet again highlighted," said David McCallum, the global managing director for Nielsen's Customized Research Services.

On the other hand, Search engine and banner advertising, along with text ads on mobile phones, each scored at the bottom of the list. This is somewhat expected for a new technology but it's important that we monitor the progress of this media in the coming years.

One alternative as they say is to influence the influencers. Mobile advertisers may tap the opinion leaders and mavens to help the general mobile users to embrace the power of this new technology.