Trend Watching

Trendwatch reports on global consumer trends. In their latest briefing, they discuss the concept of reviewing as the new advertising, quoting the latest Nielsen research:

Recommendations by personal acquaintances and opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising globally. The Nielsen survey shows that 90% of online consumers worldwide trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trust consumer opinions posted online.

All good news for social media such as Twitter, but I'd probably want to know from what knowledge base  the posts or tweets emanate and how relevant these opinions ares to me, before I rushed out and bought a DVD player based on online chatter.