B-M has released a new survey indicating that ‘e-fluentials’ (active and involved individuals who make up around 15% of internet users) in the US are increasingly concerned that hired third parties are leaving biased opinions on consumer web sites.

As opinion leaders, e-fluentials shape many others’ perceptions of brands and products, so their concerns over diminishing trust in the online environment might be considered a harbinger of things to come.

On the surface, such a theory goes against the grain of received wisdom - after all, the internet is super-charging world-of-mouth, that most trusted and impactful of all forms of communication according to multiple surveys (see here, for example), and online consumer opinions are regularly rated as more reliable than other types of marketing, notably advertising of almost any description.

A combination of factors may be eroding this trust, from the open access models adopted by MySpace and other social networks that have made them manna to paedophiles to knowledge that marketers are pulling all sorts of tricks to gain people’s attention, some of them below the belt.

Yet, according to a recent Nielsen survey, this scepticism has yet to reach Asia, with users in seven Asian markets most likely to trust recommendations from consumers, notably Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, South Korea and the Philippines.

The study also suggests that Asians (especially South Koreans and Taiwanese) also place a high level of trust on consumer-generated content such as blogs - despite the persistant popularity of bulletin boards, where users are often anonymous and which account for higher levels of traffic than blogs.

One reason for this may be Asians’ respect for authority, a common cultural trait across the region, another could be distrust of print and broadcast media in many markets, which is seen as little more than government propaganda.

Yet another might be the comparatively high levels of security and privacy provided by homegrown social networks such as Cyworld and Mixi, where users can communicate safe in the knowledge that they won’t be pestered by unwanted intruders.

All the more reason for high levels of transparency and authenticity when planning online PR and word of mouth programs in the region.

Last weekend Hong Kong celebrated 10 years of freedom. Chinese President Hu Jintao made an appearance, a speech and played some ping-pong. Meantime, demonstrators and the foreign media called for democracy.

Outside the mainstream media, cursory analysis of the blogosphere appears to show comparatively little interest (for which read enthusiasm?) in the celebrations.

From a technology perspective, this might seem surprising - Hong Kong has amongst the highest broadband and mobile phone penetration levels in the world. It boasts a free press and no discernable government online intervention. Yet, unlike across the border in China, in Hong Kong, a vigorous indigenous online culture appears not to have taken root.

Blogging, for instance, while popular on social networks such as Xanga, is limited to writing diaries and uploading photos. Political blogs or citizen journalism are almost non-existent (with the exception of the ongoing campaign against the demolition of the Star Ferry’s Queen’s Pier terminal in HK harbour, where online pressure groups have used the internet to mobilise opinion).

A saturated media environment may be one reason for the apparent lack of interest in digital communication. More fundamential may be the local custom of frequently visiting families and friends, easy to do in a small area. The latter may also help explain why businesses in HK pay little attention to online marketing - being around the corner, they are confident that locals will visit in person.

What then are the marketing opportunities?

Relevant, timely location-based mobile marketing may be one answer. Providing content in formats that are sufficiently brief and easily portable may be another, as the South China Morning Post has discovered through the success of its SCMP Today podcasts.