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| Just who can I rely on for travel information? |
One of
the most vexing challenges for the marketers of travel services is that of
addressing a fundamental dilemma in contemporary marketing practice: it has
become more difficult to influence prospective customers as it has become
easier to reach them, says Peter Yesawich, head of the Ypartnership. Personal
recommendations have the most credibility while social media have the least, a
new analysis reports.
“The
question of source credibility is therefore one of great interest to marketers
of travel services, particularly as it relates to the degree of influence
consumers ascribe to the kaleidoscope of information now available on
destinations and/or specific travel service suppliers,” Yesawich says. “And
given the explosive growth in the number of sources from which consumers can
now sample commentary, it’s important to understand they ascribe far greater
confidence to the information they receive from some sources than others.”
This
“Credibility Continuum,” as measured in the Ypartnership/Harrison Group
2010 Portrait Of American Travelers, stretches from the personal testimonials
of friends and family members (the most credible) to the content found on
social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (the least credible).
