People trust website ads more than they used to, according to a global Nielsen survey. They don't yet trust ads on social networks, or mobile display ads. Online banner ads are not much trusted either. People like funny ads but shrug at athlete endorsements. In terms of actually buying stuff, recommendations and consumer opinions still have the greatest influence, with TV ads topping the conversion tree.
Online ads on branded sites are second only to earned advertising from word-of-mouth recommendations in the trust stakes, Nielsen's online poll of 29,000 people suggests. When it comes to cut-through, the best ads are still TV ads, followed by branded websites and newspapers. Social still has some way to go, the survey found.
Consumer opinions, editorial content and TV ads are the next most trusted forms of advertising, which is encouraging for newspapers despite the fact it suggests consumers see editorial content as advertising.
Brand sponsorships, ads in newspapers and magazines and billboard and outdoor ads make up the top half of the trust table. Middle of the table players are radio ads, emails people have signed up for, ads before movies and product placements on TV.
Of the ad formats listed above, at least 50% of people polled said they trusted them to some degree. Less than half of those polled trusted ads served in search engine results, online video ads, ads on social networks, display ads on mobile devices and banner ads. Text ads on mobile phones were the least trusted.
However, trust in those tail end formats has increased markedly over the last five years, said Nielsen.
Recommendations from friends/colleagues still tops the table when it comes to driving action, followed by online consumer opinions. TV ads were the top form of advertising for driving action, followed by branded websites, ads in newspapers, emails that people sign up for and editorial content. Ads in magazines also scored reasonably.
Online video ads, banner ads, and mobile ads drove the least action, according to the survey.
See the report here.
Click on the tables below to download.
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