Sarah

http://www.craigslistdecoded.info

There’s a very specific type of blogs that attract and build trust with consumers. not executive blogs, but topics that directly help and touch consumers. Blog about tips about tips to save money, how to make the best use of banks’ services, anything that help them improve their (financial) life and how they interact with their bank.

There’s no ideal way to build trust with consumers but being honest (about the good and the bad) always help building trust and lasting relationship.

As with any information, it is up to the buyer to be wary of the source and the intentions behind the opinion.  Think of the conflicts of the “trusted” stock broker, the “impartial” insurance agent, the car sales guy, the real estate agent, the clerk at the local department store -  It’s the age old issue of conflict of interest… just a different medium.

As consumers continue to become more savvy, and social media becomes easier to use and more task oriented, I think more people will realize the wisdom of the crowd.

On the flip side of this argument, I think ad serving on blogs needs to get more intelligent to have the impact suggested by the survey. I was on a blog site last night searching for a solution to a *@#* driver issue on my home computer. The blog was blasting Gateway computers for locking down the capabilities in the bios and there right in the middle of the blog was an ad for Gateway! I doubt that is ad money well spent.

Second thought as to examples of bank blogs, I believe that this blog is actually the first such open  banking forum.

Interesting topic.  What I’m wondering is how many of the people in the study realized they were reading a “blog” while making their decision. The concept of getting “advice from a total stranger” makes sense if you know you’re reading a blog, but I see plenty of blogs out there that look like a “bona fide” product review site.   In addition, the vast majority of Internet users probably don’t even know the difference between a blog and a real media site.

If that’s the case, you have to wonder what it is about a blog that makes it more credible than a social networking site. Possibly it is because of you can get a lot more information into a blog to describe why you are promoting the product versus a social network that allows you to be a “fan” and not much else.

As for banking, the concept of blogging about your bank choice is plausible but seems less likely than an electronic product endorsement.  Does anyone have examples of “bank blogs”?

If we want to influence consumers via blogs at the moment of purchase decision, then “yes” this is great way.

If we want to teach consumer to spend responsibiliy with consideration of their ability to pay, then probably blog is not a good way to do that.

The blogs became a handicap substitute for basic financial management and social skills.

If you know how much money you have in your pocket and what you really want/need to buy, why would you want to outsource your purchase decisions to total strangers?!

Compulsive and uncontrollable spending is a big problem and I don’t see how blogs could help to cure that.

Question to everyone: Do we really need to induce consumer spending and thus debt through blogs or we need to figure out first what kind of consumer behavior we should encourage?

I think the issue of trust in a blogger vs. a social network depends on what it is for and how you use the social network for research.  If you are asking “friends”, i.e. people you know and trust who are part of your social network then I think it likely would be at least as good as a blogger you don’t know.  This would be particularly true if it’s a referral for something personal like a financial advisor (to bring it back to banking) or a movie recommendation as opposed to something where domain expertise is important like a car purchase or how to get a mortgage.