New Research Shows Rise In Trust For Advertising

The Advertising Association, ISBA and IPA announced yesterday at the industry Trust Summit that public trust in UK advertising has increased by 25 per cent since 2015.

The research has also shown that whilst bombardment remains the biggest cause of distrust in the industry, it has decreased since 2018.

The biggest driver of trust remains engaging and enjoyable creativity that the industry produces, which is at an increased level since 2018.

The research also shows that the public respond best to high quality advertising that engages and entertains, with the social contribution of advertising being the second most significant driver of trust, with the industry’s work during the pandemic to promote health messages cited as an important factor.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive of the Advertising Association, said: “The public’s trust in our work isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have and has been central to the Advertising Association’s work these past three years. Working with AA members across the industry, we have focused on delivering a ‘Trust Action Plan’ to arrest the decline of public trust in advertising.

“As all the evidence shows, Trust pays – with better returns on campaigns and better long-term value for the brands they support. The new Credos research provides us again with brilliant insights on how to improve our relationship with our most important customer, the public.”

New Credos research findings identify an increase in the public’s knowledge of advertising’s broad-based regulatory system, the Advertising Standards Authority, is an important and powerful way to improve trust for the industry as a whole.

Guy Parker, chief executive of the ASA said: “From the delivery of an impactful, fun creative thanks to the talented team at Leith, famous brands allowing us to ‘borrow’ their iconic straplines, Mediacom Edinburgh lending us their planning/buying expertise and media owners generously donating their space and airtime, our ad campaign has been a great success.

“And running it exclusively in Scotland has given us important insights into public attitudes, awareness and trust in the ASA, as well as the advertising industry more broadly, findings we’ve been able to benchmark against the UK.

“Our pilot shows us that increasing awareness leads to increasing trust in the ASA, which leads to increasing trust in advertising. And it reminds the public of ads they love. We’re now looking forward to rolling the campaign out across the UK as we continue to reassure the public that advertising across media is regulated by the ASA, working hard to protect them from misleading, harmful or offensive ads, wherever they appear.”