Online Reputation Survey
2015_Digitalis_YouGov_Research
Aug 13, 2015
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Online Reputation Survey
Background
In the run up to the anniversary of the EU’s Right to be Forgotten
Directive, Digitalis wanted to gauge how influential online search results
are in terms of shaping perceptions of professional contacts in
business and other sectors.
In order to effectively reach senior decision makers and leaders in a
number of respective professions and sectors, Digitalis worked with
YouGov to access UK Opinion Formers.
Methodology
• The YouGov Opinion Formers panel is made up of 4000 industry
leaders from a broad range of sectors including business, media,
politics and NGOs
• These respondents were invited to complete an online survey, of
which 790 took part
• Fieldwork took place between 14th and 24th April 2015
Notes on using the data
• To ensure statistical accuracy, samples of below 50 have not been analysed separately.
Therefore, sectors large enough to analyse were business, media and charity/NGOs
• All highlighted trends (in grey boxes) are statistically significant at a confidence level of at
least 95%
Profile of sample
43% female
Other
Religious leader
Medical professional
Civil servant (government)
Politician/political advisor
Legal professional
Academic/educationalist
Culture/arts
Director of charity/NGO
Media (inc. journalists)
Business
10.8%
0.9%
1.5%
1.5%
1.9%
2.4%
5.7%
6.2%
8.9%
22.2%
38.1%
Opinion leaders by sector
57% male
89% of opinion formers research new
contacts using an online search engine
Never research new contacts
Research before or after meeting
Research after meeting
Research before meeting
10.6%
34.8%
3.3%
51.2%
Opinion formers from
business and media are
more likely to research
new contacts.
56% of those in business
and 57% in media,
research before meeting
new contacts. Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
82% have some trust in the first page
rankings from search engine results
Don’t believe links will be credible or relevant, and won't trust what the query delivers
Believe it will have some relevant and credible links, but
will need to decide which to trust
Believe first page links are most relevant and from credible sources with
information you can trust
17.8%
70.3%
11.9%
Opinion formers from business
are 50% more likely to agree
that first page links are credible
with information they can trust,
with 18% agreeing.
Charity/NGO and media sector
opinion formers are less likely
with only 4% and 5%
respectively agreeing with that
statement.
They are more likely to be
selective about what they trust
with 79% of charity/NGO
opinion formers and 77% of
media believing some will be
relevant and credible.
Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
Organisation and news sources most
used in search results
75.7% 71.8%
66.6%
60.4% 56.3%
27.0% 22.3%
18.2%
41.4%
34.7%
26.1%
34.7% 33.8%
8.4% 5.3% 7.2%
Source used Source trusted
Company/Organi
sation website
National media
/ News titles Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
Sources used by business and media
opinion formers differ
75.7% 71.8%
66.6%
60.4% 56.3%
27.0%
22.3%
18.2%
83.4%
73.4%
65.4%
69.1% 71.1%
29.2%
23.3%
18.3%
73.7%
83.4%
74.3%
63.4%
50.3%
36.0%
25.1%
18.9%
Source used Used by Business OFs Used by Media OFs
National media
/ News titles
Circled figures are
statistically
significant
differences at a
confidence level of
at least 95%
Company/Organi
sation website
Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
Sources trusted by business and media
opinion formers differ
41.4%
34.7%
26.1%
34.7% 33.8%
8.4%
5.3% 7.2%
51.5%
38.2%
27.2%
41.9%
47.8%
13.3%
8.0% 9.0%
37.7%
44.6%
24.6%
37.7%
25.7%
8.0%
4.0% 4.6%
Source trusted Trusted by Business OFs Trusted by Media OFs
National media
/ News titles
Circled figures are
statistically
significant
differences at a
confidence level of
at least 95%
Company/Organi
sation website
Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
92% say discovering something negative
would impact on perception of a contact
Perception wouldn't be affected at all
If concerned either private or professional life
Only if it concerned their private life
Only if it concerned their professional life
7.6%
49.5%
0.9%
42.0% Opinion formers from
business are more
likely to be affected
by negative
information about
either private or
personal life.
55% say they would
be impacted, whereas
39% say only
information about
professional life
would affect
perception. Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
Summary of key headlines
• 89% of opinion formers research new contacts using an online
search engine
• 82% have some trust in the first page rankings from search
engine results
• 92% say discovering something negative would impact on
perception of a contact
Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015
Editors notes
• Data should be sourced as:
“Digitalis Reputation with YouGov plc, April 2015”
• Sample size can be quoted as 790
• Fieldwork dates were 14/04/15 – 24/04/15
• YouGov is registered with the Information Commissioner and the National
Polling Council
Survey questions
Question 1
When meeting with a new contact relating to your work/industry, do you put their
details into an online search engine to find out more about them?
- Yes – before meeting them
- Yes – after meeting them
- Yes – either before or after meeting them
- No – I never research new contacts
Question 2
When you research a work/industry contact online, how much do you trust the
credibility of the links/sources that appear on the first page of the search engine
rankings?
- I believe that the first page links are most relevant and from credible sources
with information I can trust
- I believe the first page will have some relevant and credible links but I will
need to decide which ones to trust
- I don’t believe that the links will necessarily be credible or relevant and will not
trust what the query delivers
Question 3
If information from the following sources were to appear in search listings when
researching a work/industry contact, which would you be likely to click on and
read, and which would you also trust?
• Would you use this source?
• Would you trust this source?
- Wikipedia
- Company/organisation website
- YouTube
- Trade/industry news titles
- National media/news titles
Question 4
If your online research into a work/industry contact highlighted something
negative about their private or professional life, would this impact on your
perception of them?
- Yes – but only if it concerned their professional life
- Yes – but only if it concerned their private life
- Yes – if it concerned either their professional or private life
- No – it wouldn’t affect my perception of them at all