Consumers More Likely To Trust TV Ads Than Online Video & Search Ads [Nielsen]

According to a recent Trust in Advertising survey from Nielsen, consumers are more likely to trust TV ads over online video ads, but their trust in friends and family trumps all.

After polling more than 30,000 consumers across 60 different countries between February and March of this year, Nielsen found 63 percent of the consumers surveyed either completely or somewhat trust TV ads, compared to only 48 percent who trust online video ads.

More than eight in ten of the survey respondents (83 percent) said they either completely or somewhat trust the recommendations of friends and family, the No. 1 most credible source of advertising per Nielsen’s findings.

The second most trusted form of advertising came from brand-managed channels, with 70 percent of the respondents claiming they completely or somewhat trust branded websites. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they trust opinions posted online, making online reviews the third most trusted format, following family and friend recommendations and branded websites.

When looking at online and mobile ads, online video ads were the most trusted, followed by search ads (47 percent), social ads (46 percent) and mobile ads (43 percent).

Very little has changed in consumer trust toward online and mobile ads since 2013. The only changes noted in the last two years were a two-percent drop for social and mobile ads and a one-percent drop for search ads and text ads on mobile.

Trust in Advertising: Tradition vs Online & Mobile

Nielsen found that Millennials have the highest levels of trust when it comes to online and mobile formats.

“Millennials consume media differently than their older counterparts, exercising greater control over when and where they watch, listen and read content — and on which device,” reports Nielsen Expanded Verticals President Randall Beard.

Nielsen assembled the following chart, breaking down trust in advertising formats by generations:

Trust in Advertising by Generations

About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.