437:(FTC) found that in US businesses, an alarming number of testimonials were in fact fictitious and misleading. In December 2009, they introduced a new set of rules governing testimonials. In essence, it is now illegal to use testimonials that "...mislead consumers and affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service." However, despite new regulations, online consumers often view testimonials with a high degree of skepticism. Companies from the private sector have begun to offer testimonial verification services to help consumers verify the authenticity of displayed testimonials.
386:
write either the review or sentences that complements the product or place. Users with a large number of followers are commonly targeted for endorsement deal requests that aims to create these testimonial posts, where in return, the user receives commission for 'advertising' the place or product. However, it can only be called an endorsement deal when the company or label contacts the user directly to create such testimonial post, and the user receives commission. This is becoming a trend in
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379:, and many more have become 'go to' places for individuals who are seeking other customers reviews/testimonials about a particular business. To put the growth of this industry into perspective, for example, Yelp.com's growth alone can be noted: Yelp.com has more than 71 million monthly unique visitors as of January 2012.
397:, testimonials that are not authentic. Often, a business owner will open multiple email addresses and then corresponding Yelp! accounts and write a multitude of testimonials seemingly by many customers of said business. Similarly, the same owner may also write negative reviews of competitors. From a
411:
post proposed this: 'If you have an active Yelp account and would like to make very easy money please respond.' There are tens-of-thousands of ads out there all over the internet of people requesting you to write bogus reviews for their business and people offering to do the same.". However, there
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have become increasingly popular mediums for celebrities to endorse brands and to attempt to influence purchasing behavior. According to a study by Zenith, social media ad spending was $ 29 billion in 2016 and is expected to rise to $ 50 billion in 2019. Advertising and marketing companies sponsor
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Testimonials from customers who are not famous have been effectively used in marketing for as long as marketing has existed. A past or current customer will present a formal "word of mouth" testimonial that a business can use in marketing and to build trust with future customers. Testimonials are
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especially has increasingly been useful in distributing testimonials on products and places. It is done by making use of the tagging feature that directly links to the original brand or the particular location that the picture was taken. Moreover, the description of the pictures are also used to
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Research by Martin, Wentzel and
Tomczak (2008) found that the effectiveness of testimonials depends on the degree to which consumers are influenced by normative pressure and the quality of the product features highlighted. Results showed that people influenced by peer pressure place a greater
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351:. A spokesperson stated, "A celebrity appearing in drug advertising is more likely to mislead consumers, therefore, the state must consider controlling medical advertisements and strengthen the management of national celebrities appearing in medical advertisements."
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are legitimate and legal ways for business owners to build their portfolio of reviews such as mentioning to customers that they value honest feedback and then providing them with the appropriate instructions for where they can review the business.
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incredibly effective when believed to be true, but a challenge is having the audience believe that testimonials presented by a business are given by real people, not fabricated by the business itself. Even so, testimonials, reviews, and
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There have also been allegations that review sites themselves are prepared to manipulate reviews in return for companies buying advertising subscriptions, with a class action being filed against Yelp to this effect in
February 2010.
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makes the purchase of an endorsed product into a status symbol. On 1 August 2007, laws were passed banning healthcare professionals and public figures such as movie stars or pop singers from appearing in advertisements for
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Martin, Brett A. S.; Wentzel, Daniel; Tomczak, Torsten (2008). "Effects of
Susceptibility to Normative Influence and Type of Testimonial on Attitudes toward Print Advertising".
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emphasis on the testimonial than on the attribute information. In contrast, people who ignore the opinions of others are more influenced by attribute information.
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are still considered by most marketing experts to be the most effective means of marketing and gaining brand trust by small- and medium-sized businesses.
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Testimonials have reached an all-time high in importance as the internet is now a plethora of reviews (synonymous with testimonials). Websites such as
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325:(an American broadcaster) gets paid to promote Ford products. Companies that pay celebs to tweet for them subscribe to the
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celebrities to tweet and influence thousands (sometimes millions) of their followers to buy brand products. For example,
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The downside to such explosive importance in this arena is the massive amount of fraud in the form of fake reviews or
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481:"Celebrity Endorsements and Twitter: Do We Buy Things When Celebrities Tell Us To?"
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532:"Inside Yelp's "Blackmail" Lawsuit: CEO Stoppelman Seems to Hate His Advertisers"
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consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a
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455:"Social media ads to hit US$ 50bn in 2019, catching up with newspapers"
407:, a poster wrote, 'I will pay for positive feedback on TripAdvisor.' A
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636:"Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road"
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Advertisers have attempted to quantify and qualify the use of
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Celebrity endorsements have proven very successful in
226:. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the
16:
Statement extolling the virtue of a product or person
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For the use of the term "testimonial" in sport, see
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attributed to ordinary citizens, whereas the word "
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403:article about the same topic, "On another forum,
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202:incorporating a series of editor testimonials
8:
654:"Legitimate Video Testimonials Methodology"
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129:Learn how and when to remove this message
558:"Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0"
140:
556:Richards, Kathleen (18 February 2009).
446:
7:
67:adding citations to reliable sources
23:. For the Superstore episode, see
14:
530:Edwards, Jim (25 February 2010).
234:" usually applies to pitches by
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1330:Party platforms (or manifestos)
582:Cook, John (24 February 2010).
262:phone launching event in 2009,
54:needs additional citations for
238:. Testimonials can be part of
1:
584:"Yelp Class-Action Complaint"
479:Roat, Olivia (24 July 2012).
1418:Rally 'round the flag effect
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622:10.2753/JOA0091-3367370103
290:
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759:Manipulation (psychology)
198:An advertisement for the
25:Testimonials (Superstore)
937:Criticism of advertising
640:Federal Trade Commission
435:Federal Trade Commission
30:Not to be confused with
1599:Promotional merchandise
1310:Character assassination
1247:Narcotizing dysfunction
1121:Photograph manipulation
834:Guerrilla communication
349:nutritional supplements
260:LG New Chocolate (BL40)
1688:Advertising techniques
1582:Product demonstrations
1011:Historical negationism
610:Journal of Advertising
288:
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246:Celebrity endorsements
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1514:Reputation management
1433:Psychological warfare
1282:Political campaigning
1091:Firehose of falsehood
316:Social media such as
291:Further information:
272:
253:
197:
1549:Corporate propaganda
485:Business 2 Community
330:theory of influence.
200:Wikimedia Foundation
63:improve this article
1637:Media concentration
1509:Non-apology apology
1499:Cult of personality
1227:Emotive conjugation
981:Burying of scholars
338:, where increasing
1620:Influence-for-hire
1413:National mythology
1383:Crowd manipulation
1272:Tabloid journalism
1141:Video manipulation
1086:Fictitious entries
809:Civil disobedience
695:Media manipulation
293:Celebrity branding
289:
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254:Actress and model
240:communal marketing
204:
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1441:Airborne leaflets
1320:Election promises
1174:Product placement
1049:Alternative facts
789:Alternative media
313:buying behavior.
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21:testimonial match
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1667:Media proprietor
1491:Public relations
1471:Public diplomacy
1456:Information (IT)
1335:Name recognition
960:Media regulation
942:Annoyance factor
799:Call-out culture
714:Crowd psychology
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1652:Media ethics
1572:Door-to-door
1567:Cold calling
1544:Weasel words
1451:Fifth column
1345:Push polling
1295:Astroturfing
1257:Pseudo-event
1237:Infotainment
1212:Broadcasting
1131:Urban legend
1054:April Fools'
927:Testimonials
926:
897:Infomercials
724:Dumbing down
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61:Please help
56:verification
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1524:Sound bites
1504:Doublespeak
1355:Wedge issue
1315:Dog whistle
1290:Advertising
1116:Lying press
1101:Gaslighting
879:Advertising
854:Occupations
744:Obfuscation
734:Half-truths
593:27 November
567:27 November
541:27 November
490:27 November
377:TripAdvisor
373:Google Maps
340:consumerism
307:celebrity's
299:celebrities
284:containing
278:Vin Mariani
236:celebrities
232:endorsement
216:testimonial
212:advertising
1682:Categories
1625:Media bias
1481:Subversion
1446:False flag
1423:Techniques
1365:Propaganda
1325:Lawn signs
1305:Canvassing
1199:News media
955:Censorship
887:Billboards
839:Hacktivism
829:Grassroots
754:Persuasion
588:Gawker.com
441:References
409:Craigslist
276:endorses "
89:newspapers
1693:Testimony
1587:Promotion
1466:Political
1373:Bandwagon
1300:Attack ad
1179:Publicity
1151:Marketing
1064:Fake news
1026:Religious
1021:Political
1001:Euphemism
996:Cover-ups
991:Corporate
859:Petitions
749:Orwellian
719:Deception
388:Indonesia
383:Instagram
303:marketing
301:in their
264:Hong Kong
208:promotion
119:June 2012
32:Testimony
1534:Transfer
1476:Sedition
1340:Negative
1252:Newspeak
1242:Managing
1184:Research
1159:Branding
1111:Literary
1076:Fakelore
1069:websites
1059:Deepfake
1016:Internet
907:Modeling
864:Protests
844:Internet
777:Advocacy
769:Activism
536:CBS News
429:Legality
420:Research
355:Customer
311:consumer
1613:Related
1592:Spaving
1577:Pricing
1519:Slogans
1461:Lawfare
1398:Framing
1378:Big lie
1169:Product
1164:Loyalty
1096:Forgery
1041:Hoaxing
922:Slogans
902:Mobiles
794:Boycott
702:Context
515:12 June
318:Twitter
286:cocaine
258:at the
224:product
103:scholar
1217:Circus
1126:Racial
464:22 May
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1559:Sales
1262:Scrum
1222:Cycle
1136:Virus
1006:Films
971:Books
912:Radio
892:False
869:Youth
849:Media
782:group
739:Media
369:Yelp!
345:drugs
336:China
280:", a
110:JSTOR
96:books
1529:Spin
1106:List
1031:Self
709:Bias
595:2015
569:2015
543:2015
517:2021
492:2015
466:2017
433:The
220:show
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210:and
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