Trust in

Advertising
a global Nielsen
consumer report
October
2007
‘Word-of-mouth’
the most powerful selling tool:
Nielsen Global Survey
Traditional Media Advertising Still More Credible Worldwide Than Ads on
Search Engines, Web Site Banners and Mobile Phones

Despite an ever-expanding array of advertising platforms and

In general, consumers trust other consumers!
sources, consumers around the world still place their highest Traditional Media fare reasonably well, but online and mobile
levels of trust in other consumers, according to a recent phone Ads aren’t to be trusted
global Nielsen Internet survey. Recommendations from consumers 78
Newspapers 63
Consumer options posted online 61

Conducted twice-a-year among 26,486 internet users in Brand websites 60

Magazines 56
47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the TV 56

Middle East, Nielsen most recently surveyed consumers on

Radio 54
Email I signed up for 49

their attitudes toward thirteen types of advertising – from Brand sponsorships 49

Ads before movies 38
conventional newspaper and television ads to branded Search engine ads 34
Online banner ads 26
web sites and consumer-generated content. Text ads on mobile phones 18

Base: All respondents

The Nielsen survey found that overall, consumers trust other

consumers above all else! 78% of respondents said they trusted
- either completely or somewhat – the recommendation of
other consumers.
“Advertisers around the world are able to reach consumers
across an increasingly diverse range of media platforms,” said
David McCallum, the global managing director for
Nielsen’s Customized Research Services.
“Even so, the recommendation of someone else remains the
most trusted sources of information when consumers decide
which products and services to buy. And even though new
media technologies are playing a role in ‘globalizing’ society,
many purchasing decisions are still based on firmly held
national and cultural attitudes. Furthermore, given that
nothing travels faster than bad news - with estimates that
reports of bad experiences outnumber good service reports
by as many as 5:1 - the importance of responsive, high
quality customer service is yet again highlighted.”


 Average levels of consumers’ trust in advertising: a 47 country comparison
Filipinos are the world’ most trusting, Danes the most sceptical, Latin Americans and Asians more likely to believe
advertising than Europeans

70%
67 67
66
64
63
62
61
60
60% 59 59
58
56 56 56
55 55 55
53 53
51 51 51 51 51
50% 49 49 49
48
47 47

43 43 43
42 42
41
40 40
40% 39
38 38 38 38
35
34
32
30% 28

20%

10%

0%
I
PH BZ MX SA TW UAE DO VN CH HK IN SG MY NL US ARG EG CA PG IRE TK NZ TH JP KOR SP UK PO GRE OZ FIN UN SW BE CZE SWZ RU EST FR AUT NW CHN LAT GER LITH IT DK
IN H
Base: All respondents

The Nielsen survey found Filipinos and Brazilians (67%) to

Ads – possibly advertorials - in Newspapers were considered
be the most trusting overall of all forms of advertising, while trustworthy, particularly for Latin Americans. People in
EEMEA were less convinced.
trust among Danes (28%), Italians (32%), Lithuanians (34%)
100%
and Germans (35%) were the lowest in the world. 90%
80%
70%
The Nielsen survey also found that while new platforms like 81
60% 73
the Internet are beginning to catch up with older media in 50% 63 63

terms of ad revenues, traditional advertising channels continue 40% 53

50
30%
to retain the public’s trust. Ads in newspapers rank second 20%

worldwide among all media categories, at 63 percent overall, 10%

0%
while television, magazines and radio each ranked above 50 Latam North America Asia Pacific Europe EEMEA
Global
Average

percent. Such advertising scored best in Latin America and Base: All respondents

most poorly in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa

(EEMEA) regions.


Although consumer recommendations are the most credible
form of advertising among 78 percent of the study’s To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising:
Newspapers – Top 10 Trust completely/somewhat
respondents, Nielsen research found significant national
100%
and regional differences regarding this and other mediums. 90%

Word-of-mouth, for example, generates considerable levels 80%

85 84 84
70% 83 81 81 81 81
of trust across much of Asia Pacific. Six of the top ten markets 60%
78 78

that rely most on “recommendations from consumers” are in 50%

40%
this region, including Hong Kong (93%), Taiwan (91%) and 30%

Indonesia (89%). 20%

10%
0%
PH SA UAE BZ MX SG MY JP CHI NL
Base: All respondents
Word-of-Mouth is a powerful recommendation for Asians
Six of the top 10 markets who relied on it hailed from Asia
100%
90% The reliability of consumer opinions posted online – which
80% 93 91 89 87 87 86
rated third, at 61 percent overall – also varies throughout the
70% 84 84 84 83
60% world, scoring highest in North America and Asia, at 66 and
50%
62 percent respectively. Among individual markets, web-based
40%
30% opinions such as Blogs are most trusted in South Korea (81%)
20% and Taiwan (76%), while scoring lowest, at 35 percent, in
10%
0%
Finland.
HK TW INDO IN KOR PH IRE MX UAE NZ
Base: All respondents

Consumer generated media – or blogs – were considered a

reliable source of information for North Americans and Asians
At the other end of the global spectrum, Europeans, generally, 100%

are least likely to trust what they hear from other consumers, 90%
80%
particularly in Denmark (62%) and Italy (64%). 70%
60%
66
50% 62 61
“The advertising industry has to do a better job at 40%
59 57
53
communicating the value it brings to consumers,” said 30%

Jonathan Carson, of Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a service of 20%

10%
The Nielsen Company. 0%
Global
North America Asia Pacific Europe EEMEA Latam Average
Base: All respondents
“In developing markets, advertising is seen more as a conveyor
of useful information. In more developed markets, people don’t
need it to play that role. They have too much information
already.”


 Are South Koreans the world’s most avid bloggers? To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising:
Consumer opinions posted online – Text ads on mobile phones – Trust completely/somewhat
Top 10 Trust completely/somewhat
100%
100%
90%
90%
80%
80%
70%
70%
81 60%
60% 76
73 72 72 71 50%
50% 66 66 66 66
40%
40%
30%
30%
20% 28
20%
10% 21
18 17 18
10% 12
0%
0% Global
Latam North America EEMEA Asia Pacific Europe Average
KOR TW IN PH PO FR US IRE HUN UAE
Base: All respondents Base: All respondents

On the other hand, only consumer-generated media and “The positive thing about these new digital channels is that
branded web sites were trusted by more than half of all they are extremely scalable,” Carson said. “You can get a very
consumers. Search engine and banner advertising, along high reach at a low cost, compared with traditional media.
with text ads on mobile phones, each scored at the bottom But it’s tempting to abuse it.”
of the list with fewer than 35 percent of total respondents.
Regionally, Latin American consumers found these ads most
About the Global Online Consumer Survey
believable, while Europeans trusted them the least.
The Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey is conducted
twice a year to gauge consumer attitudes and opinions to a
To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising: variety of topics and current affairs. The April 2007 survey
Online banner ads – Trust completely/somewhat
was conducted in 47 Markets: Argentina, Australia, Austria,
100%
90%
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic,
80% Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
70%
Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland,
60%
50% Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico,
52
40%
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland,
30%
20%
Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain,
28 26 26
24
10% 19 Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom,
0%
Latam EEMEA North America Asia Pacific Europe
Global
Average
US and Vietnam. The margin of error of the survey is +/- 4%
Base: All respondents for n=500 and +/- 3% for n=1000.


The 47 Markets Included: About Nielsen BuzzMetrics
Argentina (ARG), Australia (OZ), Nielsen BuzzMetrics is the global measurement standard
Austria (AUT), Belgium (BE), in Consumer-Generated Media. With solid data-mining
technology, superb research and Nielsen’s unrivaled experience
Brazil (BZ), Canada (CA),
in media measurement and client services, BuzzMetrics helps
Chile (CHI), China (CHN),
today’s companies, brands and business professionals better
Czech Republic (CZE), Denmark (DK), understand the influence and impact of CGM on products,
Egypt (EG), Estonia (EST),
issues, reputation and image.
Finland (FIN), France (FR),
Germany (GER), Greece (GRE),
About The Nielsen Company
Hong Kong (HK), Hungary (HUN),
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media
India (IN), Indonesia (INDO),
company with leading market positions and recognized
Ireland (IRE), Italy (IT),
brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media
Japan ( JP), South Korea (KOR), information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications
Latvia (LAT), Lithuania (LITH), (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek), trade shows
Malaysia (MY), Mexico (MX), and the newspaper sector (Scarborough Research). The
Netherlands (NL), New Zealand (NZ), privately held company is active in more than 100 countries,
Norway (NW), Philippines (PH), with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New
York, USA. For more information, please visit:
Poland (PO), Portugal (PG),
www.nielsen.com.
Russia (RU), Thailand (TH),
Singapore (SG), South Africa (SA),
Spain (SP), Sweden (SW),
Switzerland (SWZ), Taiwan (TW),
Turkey (TK), UAE (UAE),
United Kingdom (UK), US (US),
Vietnam (VN).

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