SignageWire

Publicis's ZenithOptimedia just completed a study on the impact of various marketing strategies on shoppers, and ultimately concluded that, "recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touchpoints when it comes to influencing purchases." From Advertising Age:

The data comes from ZenithOptimedia's Touchpoints ROI Tracker, a comprehensive project comprising over 300,000 interviews across 34 countries and covering more than 4,000 brands in 126 product and service categories.

Recommendations from family and friends led the pack with an average score of 84. TV ads and Internet search were next, with an average score of 69 and 67, followed by magazine ads at 60, newspaper ads at 55, outdoor ads at 45, radio ads at 42, and Internet banner ads at 41.

Our take:

The study still finds that when it comes to branding, TV remains king, with a reach and impact that can't be matched by any other form of ad media.  It seems unlikely that digital signage and other forms of in-store media will be counted on to provide 'trusted advice' any time soon, because in the retail setting shoppers are currently trained to think of any form of in-store messaging as marketing/promotional (which it typically is).