Nielsen Report on Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages – September 2013
KEY HIGHLIGHTS from the Nielsen Report on Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages, September 2013 reveal:-
BELIEVABILITY IS KEY IN ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY REMAIN MOST CREDIBLE
TRUST INCREASES ACROSS NEARLY ALL MEDIA;
TRUST IN NEWSPAPER ADS DECLINES
OWNED MEDIA MOVES TO SECOND MOST TRUSTED MEDIA GLOBALLY
ONLINE AND MOBILE ADS INCREASE IN CREDIBILITY
REGIONS REPORTING HIGHEST LEVELS OF TRUST ALSO MOST WILLING TO TAKE ACTION ON ADVERTISEMENTS
HUMOROUS ADS RESONATE AMONG AUDIENCES AROUND THE WORLD
As marketers spend billions of dollars a year on advertising, effectiveness cannot be measured by impressions alone. Resonance
is the holy grail of a successful campaign. In a market saturated with clutter, marketers need to reach audiences with advertising messages
using the formats that make the most impact, and new findings from Nielsen reveal that trust in online advertising is increasing. While
earned advertising in the form of word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family continued to be the most influential source among
84 percent of global respondents to a Nielsen online survey, owned advertising on branded websites was the second most trusted format in
2013, a rise from fourth-place ranking in 2007.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Trust in Advertising polled more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries to measure consumer
sentiment on 19 forms of paid, earned and owned advertising formats. Word-of-mouth recommendations increased 6 percentage points
from 78 percent in 2007, and owned advertising on branded websites increased 9 percentage points to 69 percent in 2013. Sixty-eight percent
of survey respondents indicated that they trust consumer opinions posted online, which ranked third in 2013, up 7 percentage points from
2007.
“Brand marketers should be especially encouraged to find owned advertising among the most trusted marketing formats,” said Randall
Beard, global head, Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen. “This form of advertising is trusted by nearly 70 percent of consumers globally, which
emphasizes the notion that marketers maintain the ability to control the messages about their brands in a way that consumers consider
credible. This perceived credibility is a key component in advertising effectiveness.”
TRUST IN TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING STILL STRONG
Ads on television, in newspapers and in magazines continue to be among the most trusted forms of paid advertising. Trust in
television ads increased from 56 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2013. Six-in-10 respondents trusted ads in magazines, a rise
of 4 percentage points from 2007. Newspaper ads were the only format to decline—61 percent of respondents found newspaper
ads credible, down from 63 percent in 2007. Although global ad spend grew only a marginal 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013,
traditional paid media continues to own the majority share of spend, with TV in the top spot owning 59 percent, according to
Nielsen’s most recent Global AdView Pulse Report.
Ads on radio (57%) and before movies (56%) both gained consumer trust as well, reporting increases of 3 and 18 percentage
points, respectively, since 2007. Brand sponsorships (61%) increased 12 percentage points from 2007. Trust in billboards and
outdoor advertising (57%), TV program product placements (55%) and editorial content such as newspaper articles (67%), an earned
form of traditional advertising, were not included in Nielsen’s 2007 survey.
“While TV remains the front-running format for the delivery of marketing messages based on ad spend, consumers globally are
also looking to online media to get information about brands,” noted Beard. “On the flipside, earned advertising channels have
empowered consumers to advocate for their favorite brands, something that shouldn’t go unnoticed by brand advertisers.”
TRUST IN ONLINE AND MOBILE GROWING
While recommendations from friends and family, as well as consumer opinions posted online, remain among the most trusted forms of
messaging, online and mobile advertising formats reported some of the biggest increases in trust since Nielsen’s 2007 survey.
In addition to an increase in trust in messages on branded websites, more than half (56%) of respondents said they trust consumerconsented email
messages, an increase of 7 percentage points since 2007. For other online advertising, almost half (48%) trusted ads in search engine results,
online video ads and ads on social networks.
More than four in 10 (42%) trusted online banner ads, up from 26 percent in 2007—a form that is steadily seeing increased ad dollars
spent, with 26 percent growth in the first quarter of 2013. Forty-five percent of respondents in Nielsen’s 2013 survey believed display ads on
mobile phones were credible, and 37 percent trusted text ads on mobile phones, up from 18 percent in 2007.
“Increases in the trust of online and mobile advertising demonstrate the growing importance of these formats,” said Beard. “With Internet
ad spending reporting double-digit growth, advertisers are exhibiting growing confidence in these formats—or at least a willingness to make
the investment. While companies may be unable to directly control the messages in earned media, such as consumer opinions posted online,
they have the ability to create a positive presence for their brands on these channels.”
FOR THE FULL REPORT VISIT:
http://hk.nielsen.com/site/documents/NielsenGlobalTrustinAdvertisingReportSeptember2013.pdf