• Scout24 Best Match Survey 2009: eight out of ten users don’t ask anyone for advice when searching on the Web
• Germans generally search on their own, but partners have a say in the final decision

Munich, October, 2nd 2009 – Germans are solo searchers: nearly 80% of Internet users don’t ask anyone for advice when searching for a property, a car, a job, a partner or an investment and insurance. Roughly half even make the final decision by themselves. The representative Best Match Survey 2009 was conducted by Scout24 and the market research institute Innofact. The results also show that a solo search does not pay off. Solo decision-makers are less satisfied with what they find than those who asked others for advice beforehand.

If a second opinion is sought, though, it is frequently from family and friends. Parents and relatives have the most influence on the purchase of property and a car – 41.1% of web searchers ask their parents for advice and 37.5% their relatives. When searching for a partner the opinion of friends and acquaintances counts a lot more (65.6%) than that of family members (13.1%). Only a few users attach importance to the view of colleagues. Depending on the subject, colleagues have an influence of 3 to 5%, and aren’t even asked in the selection of a partner.

Although most Internet users like to search on their own, they still prefer to play safe before making the final decision: every other searcher asks the opinion of others before making his/her mind up. The partners have by far the most say towards the end of the search process: about half of those surveyed say that partners have an influence on the decision (49.8%) when it comes to properties and cars; the figure for insurance and a job is roughly 25%.

The study clearly shows that those who take advice are more satisfied with the search (91.4%) than finders searching on their own (85.8%). So, ask more often “What do you think?”

There is a clear trend on the web towards asking the opinion of others. More and more searchers use feedback and rating – functions for providers or products. “The Scout24 marketplaces already provide extensive functions for exchanging opinions with others. Social media will continue to gain importance in the future“, says Dr. Martin Enderle, CEO of Scout24, one of the leading corporate groups of online marketplaces in Europe.

For more information on the Best Match Survey go to: www.best-match-survey.de.

About the Best Match Survey 2009

A total of more than 2,500 people over 18 years of age were asked in a nationwide study by Innofact about their needs, wishes and their search pattern. The focus was on the key spheres of life: the home, mobility, job, partnership and finances. The study concentrated on the aspects of motivation, search length and procedure, where to search and find, as well as opinions and ratings of detailed issues to do with the particular search and decision-making process. The market research company conducted two separate surveys for the study: the over-18 German population was surveyed by means of a representative telephone poll. In addition, regular Internet users were interviewed online about their search and find habits. The demographic distribution of the two random samples equates to that of the German population. The entire study was carried out from mid-April to the end of May 2009.