American consumers may be more than a bit skeptical of what they hear on their favorite morning shows, but they are more than willing to wholeheartedly believe what the advertisements during commercial breaks claim.
According to a new survey first reported on Axios, more than half of people – 61 percent – say that they believe the claims made in television ads and other forms of advertising. That is an increase of 11 percent from similar questioning in 2014.
This increase in ad trust coincides with a major decrease in trust of news and media sources as Americans become more skeptical of so-called “fake news.” As Gallup recently noted, as many as 68 percent of Americans no loner trust the news, a record low.
One might think that this shift is simply a byproduct of the growing internet age, and that consumers are more skeptical of what is on their television screens entirely, but the same survey showed that consumers are far more likely to trust television advertisements than digital ads.
In comparison to the 61 percent who felt TV ads were honest, just 39 percent of respondents who used the internet said that they trusted website banner ads and mobile ads.
This is good news for corporations, of course, showing that consumers trust their products and the claims they make at an overwhelmingly positive level. It is possible that consumers trust the ads because they trust the regulatory agencies which police them. After all, all consumers have heard the sped-up voices listing dangerous side effects on even the most innocuous pharmaceutical.
If a consumer believes that the government is regulating something, they may be more likely to believe in its truthfulness, rather than trusting a news source that is free to make whatever claims they’d like – truth or otherwise.
