Dutch research on the digital influence of internet and its impact on decision making processes.

1. The Digital Influence Index Study:
Understanding the Role of the Internet in the Lives of
Consumers in the Netherlands
Published by Fleishman-Hillard
Amsterdam, December 2010

2. 2
Background On The Study
Response
E-mails sent 2270
E-mails bounced 91
Completes 640
Non Response 1539
Response percentage 29%
The Digital Influence Index study measures several key aspects of Dutch consumers’
use of the Internet, from media consumption patterns, the degree of adoption of varying
digital behavior, to the involvement in online social networking. The study furthermore
assesses the Internet’s influence on specific decision making processes— from
purchasing to politics, healthcare to finance.
A recent study of Fleishman-Hillard and Harris Interactive examined this index for
countries like China, Japan, USA, Canada, France and Germany. This study places the
Digital Influence Index in the Netherlands in an international context.
Research background
Target Group Dutch consumers representative for the Dutch online population.
Method Online research
Response In total 640 online interviews have been conducted, a response of
29%. The data are representative for the online population of the
Netherlands.

3. 3
Key Findings

4. 4
7 Key take aways:
1: The Internet is by far the most influential medium for Dutch consumers. Influence is defined as a combination of the time
consumers spend on a medium and the relative importance they attach to it in their daily lives.
2: The internet is used mainly as a means to research decisions and to find supporting evidence for the decisions made.
Search engines are key in the decision making process while social networks are, as of yet, hardly used. In particular when
it comes to making decisions regarding durable goods and services, the Internet is viewed as the most important
information source.
3: A particular remarkable conclusion is the marginal role social networks apparently play in decision making processes. The
strength of social networks seems to be in emotional brand bonding rather than giving clear advice aimed at purchase
decisions.
4: In general, the Dutch trust the information available on the Internet, in particular information provided by the government.
The extensive amount of information available online makes it easier to learn quickly and makes it possible to make well-
balanced decisions.
5: When seeking advice from others, the Dutch place a high value on the advice of friends, family and colleagues. Remarkably
the majority of the respondents state that they only partly trust advice from strangers while conceding that the usefulness
thereof is most likely high. The trustworthiness of content produced by sponsored or paid bloggers is extremely low.
6: Dutch Consumers are very familiar with micro blogs such as Twitter. In general the opinion is that people share too much
uninteresting personal information. Consumers are also very aware of the possible implications of sharing personal
information which could potentially harm their career.
7: Companies who make use of micro blogs to listen and anticipate consumers interests are appreciated more than those that
don’t. Having a company keep their own micro blog is seen as less relevant.

5. 5
Digital Influence

6. 6
Important information sources for consumers in
their daily decisions
(All numbers are percents)
Internet (excluding e-mail) 71 23 32 34 30 12 21 19
Advice from friends, family and/or
colleagues
48 23 23 51 16 20 28 11
E-mail 55 22 22 28 19 5 15 11
Television 32 14 21 22 13 5 8 8
Newspapers 35 11 20 25 9 6 12 8
Mail or information through the
post
33 10 11 20 11 8 11 1
Radio 16 9 12 20 9 5 10 5
Magazines 24 4 11 15 5 4 5 2
• Internet is also the most important medium for daily decision making. It is rated even higher than peer
influence.
Each source of information is “absolutely essential” or “extremely important”
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)

7. 7
How influential is the Internet?
Net importance of the internet compared to other
media
TV Radio Newspapers Magazines
Internet
(not email)
Email
China 23% -18% 35% 6% 84% 68%
US -28% -53% -34% -68% 1% -4%
Japan 9% -30% 8% -22% 36% 16%
Germany 17% 9% 18% -14% 52% 30%
UK -26% -54% -54% -66% 15% -14%
France -39% -32% -22% -24% 10% -18%
Canada -36% -43% -26% -62% 3% -16%
Netherlands -25% -44% -15% -63% 17% -2%
Note: Net Importance calculated by subtracting Bottom 2 importance scores (not at all/somewhat) from top-three importance scores (Essential, Extremely, Very)
• The net importance shows another clear trend regarding the relative importance of the Internet. The
higher ratings of “essential” and “extremely important” become clearly visible when weighed against
other media.
Each source of information is “absolutely essential” or “extremely important”
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)

8. 8
Average number of hours consumers spend on
activities per week
All numbers are average number of
hours engaged in each activity per week
Using the Internet 15.4 13.2 11.7 12.2 14.4 12.1 13.1 12.7
Watching television 6.7 14.0 12.0 13.1 15.5 10.8 14.1 14.5
Listening to the radio 2.7 6.5 3.7 7.7 8.4 5.6 6.9 13.5
Reading e-mail 3.3 4.6 3.2 3.6 4.2 3.1 4.1 4.4
Listening to music through a device
other than the radio or the Internet
4.5 5.1 3.7 6.0 5.9 3.5 5.6 1.4
Using your mobile phone 6.3 5.8 3.2 4.5 3.8 2.3 4.0 3.0
Playing video games (offline) 4.0 3.6 3.0 3.8 4.3 3.8 4.5 1.7
Seeking/giving advice to friends, family
and colleagues
2.7 2.8 2.2 6.0 2.2 1.8 2.8 1.4
Reading newspapers 3.3 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.9 1.9 2.7 3.9
Reading magazines 3.4 2.2 2.0 2.6 2.1 1.9 2.2 2.3
Reading mail or information you
received through the post
3.0 2.0 2.6 1.9 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.6
Total average hours spent per week 55.3 62.7 49.7 64.3 65.5 48.3 61.6 60.4
Less time is spent on the average use of the internet, against more traditional media types such as
radio and TV. Despite this fact however, the net influence of Internet indicates its crucial role in
decision making.
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)

9. 9
Impact on Decisions

10. 10
Importance of the Internet in obtaining
information
The Internet is “absolutely essential,” “extremely important,” or “very important”
when making decisions regarding the topics below.
(All numbers are percents)
Consumer electronics 88 51 59 75 54 64 56 50
Friends and family 87 55 55 64 41 55 46 42
Personal finance 84 35 46 47 44 32 32 34
Travel and leisure 83 46 62 63 52 59 51 51
Health, diet and fitness 83 38 49 41 34 34 41 25
Politics and current affairs 82 41 49 59 32 34 31 36
Consumer products 78 37 46 42 34 30 38 26
Running the home 67 29 46 49 41 46 26 21
Against all categories Internet plays a crucial role in decision making. Luxury items such as consumer
electronics and travel are rated highest
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)

11. 11
Usage of different information sources to get
information on goods and services
(All numbers are percents)
Which sources did you use……..
Advice from
friends, family
and/or
colleagues
Television
Company/
Organisation
representatives
Newspaper/
Magazine
articles
Radio Internet
Goodsandservices
Daily Groceries 17 6 3 19 1 16
Personal finances 15 2 11 4 1 32
Education 8 1 7 3 1 16
Healthcare 17 3 10 8 2 33
Politics & government 17 28 2 25 12 50
Travel and leisure 25 4 7 10 2 63
Consumer electronics 21 4 10 12 1 54
Utilities 12 3 5 6 1 24
Children 13 1 2 4 0 8
Figures reflect the percentage of consumers who indicated which information source(s) they used when making a
decision regarding the goods and/or services (row).
The Dutch make more use of the internet than of friends for obtaining information on goods and
services. In particular for travel, politics and consumer electronics, consumers in the Netherlands use
the internet as their primary information source.
BASE: Variable base. Respondents who used the Internet to help them make a decision regarding a good and/or service

12. 12
Information sources used to make decisions on
goods and services
BASE: Variable base. Respondents who used the Internet to help them make a decision regarding a good and/or service
(All numbers are
percents)
Search
engine
Comments
from other
people
Blog
Company-
sponsored
website
Product/price
comparison
site
Social
networking
site
Politically
oriented
website
Online ad
Government-
sponsored
website
Consumer electronics 57 44 6 54 76 1 2 26 1
Travel and leisure 70 44 7 54 40 3 16 26 4
Healthcare 56 26 4 34 22 2 9 6 4
Politics & Government 32 16 7 3 4 4 23 2 68
Personal finances 38 13 3 48 32 0 6 10 2
Education 49 14 3 47 9 5 12 10 1
Utilities 37 14 4 25 26 3 13 7 3
Children 39 20 3 17 3 0 11 4 3
Daily groceries 11 4 1 23 19 1 1 21 1
Figures represent the average percentage of consumers who indicated the following source (column) helped them make a decision about the goods
and/or services (row).
In general, search engines are the most popular sources of information. For expensive and
elaborated products and services (like consumer electronics and travel and leisure) more information
sources are consulted. Note the relative unimportant role in the decision making proces of social
networks

13. 13
Information and Trust

14. 14
How consumers feel about information on the Internet
How do you feel about all the information on the Internet?
86%
75% 75%
69% 69%
64% 62%
59%
63%
69%
63% 63%
49%
62%
68%
37%
46%
22%
12%
19% 17%
20%
27%
34%
It makes it easier to learn quickly about what I am interested in
I don't have to rely on a single source of information
The amount of information is overwhelming and hard to keep up with
62%
68%
27%
It makes it easier to
learn quickly about
what I am
interested in
I don't have to rely
on a single source
of information
The amount of
information is
overwhelming and
hard to keep up
with
Netherlands
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)
A large portion of the Dutch consumers experience the internet as a diversified place where they can
find information quickly. 27% of them however also indicate that they find the amount of information on
the internet overwhelming and hard to keep up with.

15. 15
53%
35%
31%
28%
52%
23%
51%
32%
55%
45%
16%
24%
32%
23%
21%
25%
67%
53%
21%
34%
55%
54%
9%
23%
58%
58%
11%
17%
68%
53%
16%
22%
46%
47%
22%
18%
I feel people share too much information
about their life
A lot of things people say online are not very
interesting
I hold back in expressing my opinions online
due to concerns about my career
I worry about the impact of expressing my
opinion on my personal or financial safety
Total China U.S. Japan Germany UK France Canada Netherlands
How consumers feel about expressing themselves online
Which of these statements describe how you feel about all of the ways
to express yourself?
(Percent who selected statement. multiple choices allowed)
People are aware of the implications of sharing personal information, specially when it impacts their
personal career.
BASE: All respondents, from international research, (n=4,243)

16. 16
Do consumers trust information on the Internet?
Generally, do you trust the information available on the Internet?
94%
85% 82% 82% 78% 77% 77% 75%
Yes, 8
2%
No, 18
%
Netherlands
(Percent indicating „yes,‟ they generally trust the information available on the Internet)
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)
Trust of available information is high.

17. 17
How consumers use the Internet to find the
most truthful information
83%
65%
49% 45% 44% 42% 41%
53%
16%
35%
49% 51% 51% 50% 55%
43%
1% 2% 4% 5% 7% 4% 5%
Other
I identify a couple of
trustworthy sources and then
follow them
I look at a lot of sources and
believe the truth is something
average to all the sources
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)
Although in general trust is high, people still filter the information to their own opinions
(All numbers are percents)
I look at a lot of sources and
believe the truth is something
average to all the sources
53%
I identify a couple of trustworthy
sources and then follow them
43%
Other 5%
- I follow my own intuition
- Stay critical and check the sources
on their trustworthiness
- Most sources on the Internet are not
trustworthy
BASE: All respondents, from international research, (n=4,243)

18. 18
Consumers who seek advice from people and how
much they trust the sources and find each source
useful
67%
74%
74%
82%
82%
85%
85%
85%
France
Germany
Japan
China
U.S.
U.K.
Canada
Netherlands
Percent who seek
advice from other
people
Percent selecting each as a source they trust and find useful
(All numbers
are percents)
Trust
Useful
Trust
Useful
Trust
Useful
Trust
Useful
Trust
Useful
Trust
Useful
Trust
Useful
Conversation
s with friends,
family, co-
workers
94 95 93 93 92 89 91 91 94 93 90 95 97 96
Comments
posted by
readers on a
website
75 83 21 46 52 58 31 60 40 56 35 56 27 53
Blogs 56 63 8 18 33 39 7 14 13 18 10 19 11 19
BASE: Respondents who seek advice or opinions of other people when making a decision, (n=542)
Trust
Useful
94 92
34 49
11 15
Dutch consumers rely heavily on advice from other people when making decisions. They find
comments posted by readers on a website relatively useful, but they do not necessarily trust them.
When it comes to blog posts they find them both untrustworthy and not very useful.

19. 19
MicroBlogs

20. 20
How consumers feel about companies monitoring
microblogs
94%
74% 72%
68%
62%
56%
52%
58%
14%
23%
22%
7%
22%
23%
25%
21%
8%
21%
19%
35%
26%
27%
29%
31%
I would be glad they were listening and responding to my issue
I would feel they were spying on me and violating my privacy
I would feel they were taking no real action and it was just for show
BASE: Respondents who have a microblog account, (n=1,087)
Almost 90% has heard of micro blogging and 20% has an account. Companies who are monitoring
microblogs are mostly positive rated for creating conversational opportunities (58%).
(All numbers
are percents)
Heard of micro
blogging?
Have a micro
blogging account?
Yes 87% 20%
No 13% 80%
BASE: All respondents in the Netherlands, (n=640)
21%
31%
58%
I would feel they were
spying on me and
violating my privacy
I would feel they were
taking no real action and
it was just for show
I would be glad they
were listening and
responding to my issue
BASE: Dutch respondents who have a microblog account, (n=112)

21. 21
Thank You
For more information on the Digital Influence Study, please contact:
David Wolff
Associate Director Digital, Fleishman Hillard Amsterdam
(E) david.wolff@fleishman.com | (I) www.fleishman.com
(T) +31 20 406 59 30 | (F) +31 20 406 59 40