Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey finds that recommendations from friends and family and online consumer reviews are the most trusted form of advertising.
According to the Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey, there has been a substantial decline in reliance on forms of advertising such as ads on TV, where the figure has dropped from 76% in 2009 to 55% in 2011.
Similarly, ads in magazines witnessed a drop from 14% to 59% and newspaper ads saw a 17% fall to hit 60%. In 2009, the category of ads before movies had seen a significant gain in consumer trust; however, in the latest survey, it dipped 12%; only 49% of respondents trust this form of advertising. Brand websites and editorial content such as newspaper articles maintain their place in the top five with 75% each. But when it comes to brand sponsorships and outdoor advertising including billboards, only 55% said they found them credible. Trust in radio advertisements also took a knock, witnessing an 18% drop to 48% vis-à-vis the 2009 figure.
The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey was conducted between August 31 and September 16, 2011 and polled more than 28,000 online consumers in 56 countries and 511 in India. According to the survey, 36% of global online consumers report trust in online video ads and 40% say they believe ads viewed in search engine results. Sponsored ads on social networking sites are deemed credible only by 36% of global respondents. However, in India, the numbers are higher with 48% online consumers trusting online video ads and 52% believing ads viewed in search engine results. Sponsored ads on social networking sites fare better with 54% of respondents trusting this form of advertising.
Clocking just 43%, text ads on mobile phones, continue to be the least trusted form of advertising by Indian respondents. The performance is marginally better when it comes to display ads on mobile devices, which saw 47% trusting this form of advertising.
When considering ad relevance, once again, word-of-mouth from acquaintances and online consumer reviews top the list with 92% and 82% respectively. Editorial content like newspaper articles which 87% of respondents trusted as a form of advertising in 2009, saw a decline with just 71% believing in its credibility. In this category too, display and text ads on mobile devices fared the poorest with just over 50% trusting them. Even globally, these two categories showed disappointing results.
The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey was conducted between August 31 and September 16, 2011 and polled more than 28,000 online consumers in 56 countries and 511 in India.
