Australians trust advertisements in newspapers more than any other medium or platform, according to a new report from Nielsen.

Almost six in 10 Australians (58 per cent) say they ‘completely’ or ‘somewhat’ trust ads in newspapers, the Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report has found.

Newspapers again rank as the most trusted, ahead of television, magazines, radio and outdoor, as well as ads on mobile, search engines and social networks.

Looking at to what extent do Aussies trust various forms of advertising, from traditional to digital, the following results were concluded:

Paid – traditional and online/mobile

Format	Completely or somewhat trust (per cent)
Ads in newspapers	58
Ads on TV	56
Ads in magazines	53
Ads in radio	52
Outdoor advertising	51
Ads before movies	51
TV product placements	44
Ads in search engine	34
Online video ads	32
Ads on mobile device	31
Online banner ads	29
Ads on social networks	29
Text ads on mobile phones	26

 

Trust in advertising on digital platforms is increasing, especially for mobiles, according to Nielsen. Since the last Global Trust in Advertising Report in 2013 in which newspapers also ranked highest, trust in ads on mobiles has increased by six percentage points.

Despite this growth there is still a considerable gap between trust in ads in newspapers and trust in ads on digital platforms. Twice as many people trust ads in newspapers than trust ads on social networks (newspapers: 58 per cent, social networks: 29 per cent).

When it comes to paid online and mobile advertising, and how much Australians trust these methods of ad targeting, they said:

Paid –online/mobile

Format	2013	2015	Change
Ads in search engine	32	34	+2
Online video ads	31	32	+1
Ads on mobile device	25	31	+6
Online banner ads	27	29	+2
Ads on social networks	27	29	+2
Text ads on mobile phones	20	26	+6

 Source: 2013 and 2015 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report, Australian data only

“Newspaper media is influential and plays a vital role in the lives of more than 16 million people. Every advertising campaign needs influencers to drive trust, belief and action and newspapers can rightly claim the number one position as the most trusted medium for advertising,” The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said.

“Our industry campaign, Influential by Nature, re-states to advertisers why newspapers get results and the Nielsen study proves just what a trusted advertising platform they are.”