Survey on the Actual Usage of Word-of-Mouth and Reviews (2026) | SNS Reviews: "Actual Usage, Specificity, and Mentioning Drawbacks" are Key to Trust

Survey Findings

"Booking/Comparison/Review Sites" are the main axis for information gathering across almost all genres.

Top for accommodation at 86.6%, home appliances at 80.7%, and restaurants at 80.3%.

Only for movies, SNS at 63.8% overturns booking/comparison/review sites.

Three Conditions for SNS Trust

1. Visible evidence of actual use/experience. 2. Specific content in posts. 3. Mentions not only good points but also concerns/drawbacks — these were most emphasized across all genres.

The biggest burden in information gathering is "distrust in word-of-mouth/evaluations."

Top for restaurants at 45.3%, home appliances at 34.6%, and daily necessities at 31.2%.

For cosmetics and restaurants, "difficulty distinguishing ads/PR" exceeds 30%.

"Information sources contradict each other, making it difficult to judge what is correct," and "decision fatigue" were also observed in many categories.

**[Survey Overview]**

**Survey Method:** WEB questionnaire conducted using an survey system operated by Neo Marketing Inc.

**Survey Target:** 958 males and females aged 20 and over nationwide (those who have referred to SNS or booking/comparison/review sites for product purchases or service usage within the past year).

**Valid Responses:** 958 people

**Survey Dates:** March 18 (Wednesday) to March 19 (Thursday), 2026

**Survey Institution:** Neo Marketing Inc. (listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard)

**1. Booking/Comparison/Review Sites are the "Main Axis for Information Gathering." Only for Movies, SNS Overturns Them.**

Products/services booked/purchased/used based on third-party information sources within the past year (Respondents = All)

"Booking/Comparison/Review Sites" are used most frequently across almost all genres for product purchases and service bookings/usage, functioning as a judgment axis to efficiently narrow down choices.

Meanwhile, SNS is also highly utilized in many genres, such as cosmetics (62.9%), travel destinations (57.4%), restaurants (53.4%), and daily necessities (51.7%), serving as an important information source alongside booking/comparison/review sites.

**Movies are the only genre where SNS surpasses booking/comparison/review sites.**

For movies, "SNS" at 63.8% was confirmed to surpass "Booking/Comparison/Review Sites" at 58.5%. This genre has high affinity with SNS because the "temperature" of reactions, such as "what's trending now" and "how people actually felt," is valued.

**2. SNS Trust Criteria: "Authenticity of Experience," "Specificity," and "Disclosure of Flaws" are the Three Major Conditions.**

When referring to SNS posts (X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) for information gathering when purchasing/booking/using products/services, the following three points were particularly emphasized as criteria for judging "trustworthiness" across all genres.

Trust Criterion ①

Visible evidence that the poster has actually used/experienced it.

Trust Criterion ②

Content of the post is specific.

Trust Criterion ③

Mentioning not only good points but also concerns/drawbacks.

(Respondents = those who referred to SNS posts (X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) within the past year)

For home appliances, these three points were almost at the same level: 54.1%, 50.3%, and 56.7% respectively. It was confirmed that for expensive products with high failure costs, both "actual feeling of use" and "specific information including drawbacks" are required.

**Posts by general users outweigh the presence of "highly influential communicators."**

**High trust in "relatable communicators."**

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that in all genres, "being a general user (assumed not to be a corporate project or忖度)" surpassed "being an influential poster with many followers." For consumers, being a "relatable communicator" who is less likely to be influenced by corporate projects leads to higher trust than the extent of influence.

**3. The Biggest Burden in Information Gathering is "Distrust in Word-of-Mouth/Evaluations."**

Things that cause burden or annoyance when gathering information about products/services.

*Respondents: Those who referred to third-party information such as word-of-mouth, reviews, rankings, comparison sites, SNS (X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) within the past year.*

**The biggest burden is "distrust in word-of-mouth/evaluations."**

Overall, what stood out was that while booking/comparison/review sites are widely used as a means of information gathering (*), there is a strong distrust and hesitation regarding their content. The most common response in many genres was "feeling that reviews and word-of-mouth evaluations (e.g., stars) are manipulated," with restaurants at 45.3%, home appliances at 34.6%, and cosmetics at 34.3%.