A new report from ad-ology shows that 60.5% of consumers who recently purchased a mobile phone said that online product reviews and user comments weighed significantly in their buying decisions. The reports show that 30% of people felt that blogs had the same level of influence on buying decisions.

Key findings showed that buyers likely to rate online blogs and reviews highly tended to be 18 to 34 year olds with higher than average incomes. 26.3% of buyers said they prefer to buy online rather than in a store. The price of the phone isn't as important to most buyers as the phone quality and the quality of the mobile network.

“This is the modern day version of ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Advertisers have always known the immense value of positive ‘word-of-mouth’. Now consumers have a whole world of opinions and reviews available online, and this survey shows how much they value that kind of information.”

Via Ad-ology