Not all people tell the truth, so it’s unlikely that everything you read on the web is going to be fact. To counter that, especially when in connection with something as ethereal as word of mouth information, listed here are a number of statistic’s and sources that you (if you so desire) can check for accuracy at your leisure.

1. Family and friend recommendations are more infuential when giving out word of mouth information (AdAge).

2. Traffic to a site that posts reviews will typically return to that site nine times, and are twice as likely to purchase from that website than others (source: McKinsey and Co.Jupiter Media Metrix).

3. Consumers trust close friends more than experts or even celebrity endorsements (65%, 27% and 8%, respectively; Yankelovich).

4. A Nielsen worldwide study of some 26,000 users in over 40 markets reported that consumer recommendations were the most credible form of word of mouth information advertising within the 70% plus of respondents.

5. The figure is enourmous, 116 million user generated content was made in the U.S. alone in 2008, with an additional 82 million content creators. With the extended reach and influence of Web 2.0 and social networking, these figures are sure to climb (source: eMarketer.com).

6. Social network users are three times more likely to purchase a product or service on the strength of a recommendation from an associate or friend rather than any other form of advertising. (the source: Jupiter Research).

7. 86% of people asked said they trust a friend’s recommendation over the experts, with 83% saying they trust user generated comments over a critic’s (Marketing Sherpa).

8. 66% of social networkers are more inclined to purchase due to a recommendation, compared to 52% that aren’t social networkers (Royal Mail home shipping tracker).

9. 81% of holiday shoppers read through user reviews prior to purchasing (Nielsen Online).

10. Consumers totaling 86% read reviews on businesses before buying, with over 90% saying that they trust those reviews (Kudzu.com).

11. 49% of shoppers stated that they have made many of their purchases based solely on the strength of consumer reviews. Of this total 53% bought on the strength of user reviews;48% by comparison charts;41% due to editorial reviews and comments;58% due to shared shopping lists.

12. Nearly two thirds (62%) of home-based consumers browsed on line user generated product reviews before making a purchase (Deloitte and Touche) with 62% stating that they would also browse sites with user reviews in order to make entertainment purchases (Marketing Sherpa).

13. 7 out of 10 people who read consumer generated news and reviews are highly likely to share those opinions, which amplifies the impact (Deloitte and Touche).

14. 74% of surveyed consumers state they base purchasing on user generated reviews of their customer rating for a product or company (Society of New Communication Research).

As you can see, word of mouth information coming from trusted sources such as friends, consumers, etc. is the most powerful form of advertising.