Why Trust Matters in Advertising – and Why TV Still Comes Out on Top
Trust has become one of the advertising industry’s favourite talking points. And with good reason.
In a world where consumers are exposed to more brands, more advertising and more content than ever before, knowing who – and what – to trust has become increasingly important.
But trust isn’t simply a nice brand attribute to have. Research suggests it has a very real relationship with commercial performance. And importantly for advertisers, where your advertising appears can play a significant role in building it.
Trust is increasingly linked to business performance
Analysis of the IPA Effectiveness Databank shows that the relationship between building brand trust and achieving greater profit has strengthened considerably over the last two decades.
Twenty years ago, trust was the least important of seven brand mental availability metrics monitored by the IPA. Today, it ranks second – behind only perceived brand quality.
In other words, building a brand people trust isn’t simply about reputation. Increasingly, it appears to be linked to the bottom line.
The environment matters
It’s easy to think of an advertising platform primarily in terms of audience, reach and cost. But there’s another consideration: how consumers feel about the environment in which they encounter your brand.
Research published in the Journal of Advertising Research found that advertising effectiveness and purchase intent were significantly higher when an advert appeared on a platform the audience trusted.
That raises an important question for advertisers. If the environment helps shape the way people perceive the advertising within it, are all impressions really equal?
The evidence suggests perhaps not.
TV leads when it comes to brand trust
According to 2025 research from Tapestry Research, people are more likely to describe brands advertising on TV as trusted than brands advertising across any of the other media channels measured.
The figures tell an interesting story:
TV – 24%
Newspapers and magazines – 20%
Radio and podcasts – 17%
YouTube – 12%
Social media – 9%
That means consumers were almost three times as likely to describe brands advertising on TV as trusted compared with brands advertising on social media.
For businesses weighing up where to invest their advertising budget, that's a distinction worth considering. Because advertising isn't only about getting your brand seen. It's also about what being seen in that particular environment says about your business.
And TV's trust advantage isn't limited to older viewers
There can sometimes be a perception that TV's strengths are concentrated among older audiences. The trust data tells a rather different story.
Tapestry Research found that trust in brands advertising across all media generally increases as audience age decreases. In other words, younger consumers tend to be more trusting of advertisers regardless of the channel.
But importantly, TV remained the most trusted advertising environment among every age group measured.
Among 18–34-year-olds, around 35% trusted brands advertising on TV, compared with approximately 26% for YouTube and 14% for social media.
For 35–54s, TV again led at approximately 25%.
And among those aged 55+, TV remained ahead at around 18%.
So while viewing behaviours may be changing, the ability of television advertising to lend credibility to a brand appears to cross generations.
Professional content creates a different advertising environment
One reason for TV's trust advantage could be the context surrounding the advertising itself.
Thinkbox's Context Effects research examined in-home video viewing and found that advertising shown alongside professionally produced content was perceived as 44% more trustworthy than advertising appearing in user-generated or unregulated environments.
That's an important difference.
Consumers don't necessarily experience an advert in isolation. The programme, platform and viewing environment surrounding it can influence how that advertising – and consequently the brand behind it – is perceived.
Professionally produced, regulated content can provide advertisers with an environment where audiences already have expectations around quality, accountability and credibility.
And some of that credibility can transfer to the brands appearing within it.
Watching together can make TV even more powerful
TV also has another characteristic that's easily overlooked: it is frequently a shared experience.
Thinkbox's Staying Power research found that when people watched TV with others, brand trust increased by 15%.
There's something interesting happening here.
TV advertising isn't always a solitary interaction between one person and one screen. It can be experienced in a living room, alongside partners, friends or family, within content people have actively chosen to watch.
That combination of professionally produced content, attention and shared viewing creates a distinctive environment for brands.
Advertising on TV is a public statement
There's another, less measurable element to television advertising too.
Behavioural scientist Rory Sutherland puts it neatly:
“Public promises carry more weight.”
Appearing on television can send a signal about a business before the advert has even finished.
For many consumers, seeing a brand on TV suggests a degree of scale, permanence, confidence and legitimacy. There's a sense that the business is putting its reputation on public display. It's why “as seen on TV” still carries meaning.
And this isn't necessarily about spending enormous amounts of money. The changing TV landscape means businesses can now access highly targeted television and streaming campaigns without needing the multimillion-pound budgets traditionally associated with the medium.
Trust translates. Trust transfers. Trust transforms.
The research points towards a simple conclusion: Where your brand advertises helps shape how your brand is perceived.
Trust translates into stronger commercial outcomes.
Trust can transfer from the advertising environment to the brands appearing within it.
Trust can transform an advertising impression from simply being seen into something that contributes to longer-term brand value.
That's why choosing media shouldn't only be a question of finding the cheapest impression or the biggest number on a reach report. The context of that impression matters too.
At TVADSWORK, we're passionate about simplifying the world of TV advertising and helping businesses understand where television and streaming can genuinely add value.
For SMEs and businesses that are new to TV in particular, television advertising can be far more accessible and affordable than many expect. With the right audience, strategy, creative and media plan, it can provide something that's increasingly valuable in a fragmented media landscape:
Attention, credibility and trust.
And in an advertising world where trust matters more than ever, that's a pretty powerful combination.
If you'd like to find out how to implement TV advertising into your marketing plan,
feel free to get in touch with us at hello@tvadswork.com
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