The key sources of product information for Russians have been named
The top five most popular sources of information about products and services of interest to consumers are led by advertising on marketplaces (Ozon, Wildberries, Yandex Market) — 43% of respondents, according to the results of a study by the VTsIOM Analytical Center. This is followed by advertising in search results (Yandex, Google) — 34%, advertising on social networks and messengers (VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Telegram, MAX, Dzen) — 28%, influencer advertising — 27%, and TV — 21%. The main advertising flow is concentrated on social networks and messengers (72% of internet users encounter advertising there daily), in internet search results, and on TV (69% each). The vast majority of respondents encounter advertising daily in at least one of these three key channels (94%).
The main guide for Russians is reviews from real customers on social networks and marketplaces. 72% of respondents noted the usefulness of these platforms when choosing goods and services, which is almost double compared to influencer reviews (39%) and recommendations on websites and online services (34%). These are followed by online advertisements and advertising on TV, radio, or billboards (13% each). Digital advertising is more effective than traditional advertising at prompting potential buyers to take steps that lead to a purchase: after seeing an advertisement online, 84% of respondents either continue searching for the product of interest on their own or remember the brand. Offline channels show less impact (76%).
Respondents place the greatest importance on non-intrusiveness — 88% of respondents find it important that advertising does not interfere with content consumption. In second place is usefulness, or how much advertising helps with making a purchase decision (80%). Creativity and non-standard advertising are important to seven out of ten respondents (72%), with humor and personalization also each garnering 70%; 61% of respondents value humanity in advertising, namely the presence of real stories and customer experiences. More than half of respondents (55%) find it important that advertising looks modern and up-to-date. The ability to make a one-click purchase directly from an advertisement to save time is important to 44% of respondents.
Every second respondent (52%) expects artificial intelligence and algorithms to learn to anticipate desires, tailoring offers to a person's interests and behavior; 31% of respondents expect advertising to integrate organically into content consumption and stop being distracting, while 30% expect it to show only what is truly necessary and interesting. Another notable trend is purchases from content: 31% of respondents assume that one-click purchases from social networks and marketplaces will become commonplace in the future. At the same time, more than half of respondents (58%) fear information overload due to the growing volume of advertising, 50% believe it will become harder to distinguish advertising from regular content, and 46% believe it will become exhausting in the pursuit of brightness and prominence. Furthermore, every second respondent (49%) expressed concern that trust in algorithms will reduce the deliberateness of consumer choice, with advertising increasingly dictating purchasing decisions on behalf of the consumer.