Nielsen’s latest “Global Trust in Advertising” study revealed that once again word-of-mouth recommendations are the most trusted form of “advertising” among consumers. Coming in second was brand websites, with 70% of consumers saying they completely or somewhat trust these sites.
A relative to the offline recommendation, online ratings and reviews were the third most trusted form of advertising. Though websites and online consumer opinions are in the top three most trusted outlets, overall paid traditional media advertising tends to be more trusted than digital.
For example, 63% of consumers surveyed said they trusted TV ads while only 48% trusted online video ads. However, the study goes on to say that when dealing with online and mobile, “action” often exceeds “trust” with these formats:
Even lower-trust formats can be extremely effective in driving consumers to the point of purchase…For many paid advertising formats, however, self-reported action actually exceeds trust. That is, more consumers say they take action than find the ad trustworthy. This is particularly true for online and mobile formats.
The data comes from Nielsen’s “Global Trust in Advertising” report which surveyed 30,000 consumers across 60 countries. For access to a full size version of the graphic above, click here.
