On-line reviews vs. personal recommendations

A marketing specialist I work with recently told me that people trust online reviews and much as personal recommendations.    This blew my mind, as I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to online reviews.  Oh, I read them, but always with a grain of salt.

This graphic from Bright Local shows trust in reviews, broken down by age group.

To me, personal recommendations, on the other hand, really matter.  And knowing who they come from affects the power I give the recommendation.    With online reviews, I usually have no idea who the reviewer is, which in itself, makes the review/recommemndatio less valuable, to me.

Generational generalizations are risky but...the above chart really does show generational differences.      Certainly, the 18-34 year olds have grown up with more of their lives online. Heck, I've been in business as long, or longer than they have been alive.

My business is primarily referral based.  That is, the majority of my clients come to me through personal recommendations.   I assume, once recommended, folks go look for me on-line, and that's where reviews come in to play.  I suppose its not personal recommendations vs. on-line reviews, but personal recommendations and on-line reviews.

How do you weigh personal recommendations vs. on-line reviews?  Does it bother you to be asked for a review?