In spite of the fact that algorithms from Facebook, Google, and Netflix constantly recommend content to consume, a new survey from entertainment company Roku highlights the importance of human connection.
Roku surveyed 535 Canadian adults between the ages of 18 and 65, and the results reveal that we take some interesting factors into consideration before trusting someone with our next Netflix recommendation.
According to the survey, the number one factor in determining whether Canadians trust the recommendations of someone else is humour.
Approximately 65 percent of Canadians trust the recommendation of someone with whom they share a sense of humour. The second most important factor? Friendship.
Approximately 54 percent of Canadians trust the recommendations of their friends.
Interestingly enough, however, only 17 percent of Canadians trust the recommendations of their partners or significant others to recommend stuff worth watching.
When it comes to political and economical similarities, 26 percent of Canadians said that they trust the opinions of people who share similar social views.
Being from the same town and sharing the same gender as someone else were the least important factors.
What’s also interesting to observe is the fact that algorithmic recommendations from Netflix or Facebook are still less important in determining what people will watch than commercials.
Roughly 52 percent of Canadians said that commercials influence what they watch, while only 35 percent of respondents said that Facebook posts influence what they watch.
As for some other minor revelations from the survey, people are almost twice as likely to recommend television programs and movies than to recommend restaurants and places to travel.
Roku’s infographic below provides some more interesting statistics:
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