JEDDAH — The most credible form of advertising comes straight from the people we know and trust. Eighty-four percent of KSA online respondents say they trust the recommendations of friends and family, according to the Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report released recently. This level increased three percentage points from 2013 (81%). Owned online channels are also among the most trusted advertising formats. Trust in advertising on branded websites increased seven percentage points to 71% in 2015 as the second-most-trusted format, remaining in second place from 2013. Seventy percent of KSA survey respondents indicate that they trust consumer opinions posted online, which rates third in 2015, up five percentage points from 2013. While there isn't one simple rule for maximizing advertising effectiveness in a saturated market, understanding how consumers feel about the ads served on the various media platforms they use every day is a good place to start. “Word of Mouth (WOM) plays a very vital role in the consumers' decision making process. With the explosion of social media – especially in Middle East – the importance and efficacy of WOM has increased greatly,” said Arslan Ashraf, managing director, Nielsen Arabian Peninsula. “Nevertheless traditional means of advertising are still highly relevant and should not be ignored at this juncture. Their relevance in relation to WOM activity is key to understand and utilize.” Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising Survey notice that despite continued media fragmentation, the proliferation of online formats has not eroded trust in traditional (offline) paid channels. TV, newspapers and magazines remain trusted advertising formats. More than six-in-10 KSA respondents say they completely or somewhat trust TV ads (64%), down two percentage points from 2013. The same number of KSA respondents trust ads in newspapers (64%) and slightly fewer ads in magazines (60%), which increase one and two percentage points, respectively, from two years ago. Trust in paid online and mobile ads has changed for the better since 2013. More than half of KSA respondents say they completely or somewhat trust online videos ads (55%, up two percentage points from 2013), ads served in search engine results (52%, up five percentage points) and ads on social networks (59%, up eight percentage points). Fifty-six of KSA respondents trust online banner ads (up six percentage points from 2013) and mobile advertising (55%, up two percentage points). Nielsen's research showed that trust and action are clearly linked, but credibility is not always a prerequisite to purchase intent. Even lower-trust formats can be extremely effective in driving consumers to the point of purchase. The same percentage of KSA respondents trust the opinions of friends and family and said they take action on these opinions at least some of the time (84% each). For many paid advertising formats, however, self-reported action actually exceeds trust. That is, more consumers said they take action than find the ad trustworthy. This is particularly true for online and mobile formats. Self-reported action exceeds trust by more than double digits for ads served in search engine results (52% trust; 69% take action), ads on social media (59% trust; 72% take action) and text ads on mobile phones (49% trust; 67% take action). — SG
