Internet Shoppers Depend on Each Other-MarketplaceStories.com Helps

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep 02 (MARKET WIRE) --
Despite an increasing number of marketing approaches aimed at consumers,
shoppers are still most strongly influenced by each other's opinions and
put their trust in the recommendations posted by other shoppers when
making online purchasing decisions.

A surprising Nielsen survey(i) found that 61% of consumers polled
worldwide said they trusted each other's posted comments; receiving a
higher rate of trust than TV, movie, magazine and radio advertising and
all forms of online influence (corporate websites, sponsored search
result advertising, banner ads, email offers, and text ads on mobile
phones).

"Online shoppers want to capitalize on and benefit from the experiences
of other consumers so they can make smarter purchasing decisions," says
Mike Allan, owner of MarketplaceStories.com.

"People believe the experiences told by other shoppers because they feel
the opinions are less biased than other sources. A customer has nothing
to gain from promoting a good service or product so positive feedback can
carry a lot of weight. In addition, cautionary tales from other consumers
can be a powerful influence as well."

"We've designed our site around the fact that online shoppers value each
other's recommendations and benefit from their shared research. Our
members post consumer-related stories that help one another make more
informed purchasing decisions."

"Additionally, we maintain a comprehensive, personally selected
collection of retailers and products that we manually link to relevant
stories making it easy for shoppers to find the items being discussed.
Members can review these retailers and products so they have an
additional sense of assurance about their quality. Members can also save
lists of their favorite retailers and products to share with other
shoppers."

"We wanted to make shopping on the web friendlier," said Allan, "and by
giving members a voice we found that everyone benefits from their shared
experiences."

MarketplaceStories.com, launched May 15th, 2008, is a social media
website for shoppers owned and operated by MindWorks Software Design Inc.
The site maintains quality retailers and products and provides a
community where shoppers can form relationships with each other, share
opinions and recommendations, assist each other in consumer research and
have a dynamic voice.

(i) Source: Nielsen Online Global Consumer Study April 2007 - The Nielsen
Company

For more information or to schedule an interview with Mike Allan please
see contact information below.

Contacts:
MindWorks Software Design Inc.
Mike Allan
(604) 299-8297
Email: mike@mindworks-software.com or
mike@marketplacestories.com
Website: www.marketplaceStories.com

Copyright 2008, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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