Social media secondary for financial sector
Personal recommendations and traditional media have the strongest influence on the reputation of banks. Communication in social networks is significantly less decisive. This is the conclusion of a study from Germany.
In Germany, traditional media (TV, print and radio) are the most important source of information for building and strengthening the reputation of banks. After the traditional media, personal recommendations from friends, acquaintances and family members are the second most important information channel. Social media and advertising follow at a considerable distance. These are selected results of an online study conducted by TNS Infratest between September 26 and October 2, 2014.
A total of 1006 people with an affinity for finance were surveyed in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, the USA and Singapore. The results of the study show that when it comes to banks, information through classic media is far more important than communication in social media. It therefore concludes that classic press relations remain the primary address for financial institutions to strengthen their reputation.
Due to the increasing use of blogs, online forums and social networks, banks are also being discussed more intensively there. The average volume of communication about internationally active banks already exceeds the volume of journalistic reporting in the traditional media many times over. But communication in social media is far less relevant to consumers, who continue to rely on information from TV, print and radio.
This also applies to the younger target group of 18- to 25-year-olds: According to the study, they rely more on recommendations from friends, family and traditional media than on posts in social media or advertising.
A similar ranking emerges when looking at the international results: Personal recommendations are at the top, followed by classic media, social media and advertising. For respondents in Singapore, traditional media are less important. Social media and, above all, personal recommendations play a greater role in the assessment of banks in the Asian country than in Western countries.
"Looking at the content, opinions about a bank are primarily dependent on business developments, followed by the bank's product services. While older people make their opinions about banks even more dependent on business figures, younger people form their opinions relatively more frequently on the basis of the bank's strategic orientation," explains Simon Bisch, Consultant at TNS Infratest.
