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Trust matters – and TV earns it

Trust matters – and TV earns it

Posted on: June 11, 2026
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In a world saturated with advertising, trust is everything. People are exposed to more commercial messages than ever before, across more platforms, but attention doesn’t guarantee belief or action.

This is where TV stands apart. It is consistently rated as the most trusted form of advertising in the UK. That trust is not incidental. It is built on foundations that other media struggle to match: regulation, professionalism, quality, visibility, and cultural standing.

Why trust matters in advertising

Trust drives effectiveness. It shapes whether people notice an ad, believe it, and act on it. It influences long-term perceptions of brand quality, value, and reliability.

Peter Field’s latest analysis of IPA Effectiveness Databank data shows that the relationship between brand trust and profit has strengthened significantly over the past two decades. In fact, trust is now the second most important brand attribute for profitability, after perceived quality. And the two are increasingly linked.

TV delivers here. Field's analysis found that TV builds the strongest trust effects of any media channel. Campaigns that generated strong trust effects consistently used more TV and less social media.

Line chart showing the percentage of cases with strong trust growth reporting very large profit growth from 2008 to 2022. The figure rises from 20% in 2008 to around 41% in 2014, dips to 33% in 2016, then climbs to 46% by 2022. Trust growth has become increasingly associated with profit growth.
Grouped bar chart comparing channel budget allocation with the average for campaigns that did and did not create trust effects. Trust-building campaigns allocate 2.9 percentage points more to TV, the largest positive difference, but 6.6 points less to all online video, the largest negative difference. Campaigns without trust effects show the reverse pattern, with higher online video and lower TV spend. Greater TV allocation is associated with stronger trust effects.

Why TV is trusted

TV is trusted because it is held to the highest standards – and viewers know it.

  • All TV ads in the UK are pre-vetted by humans, ensuring accuracy, decency, and appropriateness.
  • That scrutiny applies to the content too – professional, regulated programming sets the tone for the ads within it.
  • TV avoids the issues that undermine trust in online advertising: fraud, inappropriate ad placement, data misuse, or opaque targeting.

TV also carries a sense of public accountability. As Rory Sutherland points out, public promises carry more weight. TV, being visible to millions, signals confidence. And that perceived investment works in a brand’s favour.

In fact, house51 research shows a direct relationship between the perceived cost of an advertising channel and how trusted and high-quality its brands are seen to be. The more people believe a medium costs, the more credibility its advertisers gain. TV’s perceived expense, even though it’s fantastic value, boosts brand stature.

Scatter chart comparing perceived advertising cost with trust signal. Trust rises steadily as perceived cost increases, from around 33% for campaigns thought to cost under £25,000 to about 56% for those believed to cost £500,000 or more. Higher perceived production cost is associated with greater trust.

The signalling power of TV

Signalling Success 2 (EssenceMediacom, 2024) shows that media choice influences brand perception. TV advertising signals quality, confidence, popularity, and financial strength. In the study, brands advertising on TV were seen as more trustworthy and successful than those using other channels.

This supports findings from Richard Shotton’s 2024 paper, which links costly signalling and public commitment to trust. Our brains intuitively believe a brand must be serious if it invests heavily in being seen by everyone. TV delivers that visibility.

Context counts

Context Effects (Thinkbox, 2024) used ethnography and SEM to analyse in-home video viewing. It found that ads shown within professionally produced content were seen as 44% more trustworthy and 39% more entertaining than those in user-generated or unregulated environments.

TV’s in-home, shared, high-attention setting creates the ideal conditions for trust to flourish.

Infographic explaining how watching professional content in the living room affects advertising response. Compared with non-professional content, professional content delivers 60% higher ad recall, makes advertising feel 44% more trustworthy and 39% more entertaining, and is perceived as 80% less intrusive. Professional content creates a stronger and more positive advertising experience.

Gen Z, misinformation, and the crisis of trust online

Channel 4’s 2025 Gen Z: Trends, Truth and Trust report paints a concerning picture of life online for younger audiences:

  • Gen Z place similar trust in friends’ posts (58%) and influencers (42%) as they do in journalism
  • One-third trust alternative internet media more than traditional news
  • Half are concerned about social media’s impact on their lives

The result? Radicalisation, misinformation, democratic disengagement, and division. As Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon warned, "the business model of the technology giants is at odds with the safety of our societies."

Against this backdrop, TV’s regulated, high-quality environment stands as a vital cultural anchor. It offers shared facts, considered storytelling, and responsible advertising – things social media platforms struggle to deliver.

Grouped bar chart comparing confidence in the BBC, friends’ social media posts, advertising and influencers among 13–27-year-olds and 28–65-year-olds. Gen Z reports 58% confidence in friends’ posts, 43% in the BBC, 42% in influencers and 39% in advertising. Older adults report 38%, 37%, 8% and 17% respectively. Gen Z places similar trust in influencers and advertising as in journalism, unlike older adults.

The data is consistent

When trust goes under the microscope, the findings are usually the same:

  • Data presented at LEAD 2026 from the 2025 Credos Trust Tracker revealed a key trend: trust in advertising has increased across every media channel since 2021. Between 2021–2025, trust in TV grew faster than any other medium, reaching 46%, outperforming online ads (31%), social media (27%) and Influencer content (25%).
  • In 2025, analysis from Tapestry Research highlighted where consumers place their trust when it comes to advertising platforms. Respondents were asked about the different places they see advertising and how they felt about brands that advertised on those channels. Analysis reveals that people are most likely to describe brands advertising on TV as trusted (24%), with newspapers and magazines coming in second at 20%. People are least likely to describe brands advertising on YouTube (12%) and social media (9%) as trusted.
  • Edelman Trust Barometer 2025 placed social media as the least trusted sector in the UK (28%)
  • YouGov found that trust is typically higher for ad channels like TV, cinema, radio, outdoor, and print. Again, social media ads and video streaming services were among the least trusted.
  • Ipsos found TV ads are the most trusted (35%); only 6% cited social media, and YouTube just 4%
  • Signalling Success found TV, magazines and radio deliver the most brand trust; video sharing sites and social scored lowest
Grouped bar chart comparing trust in advertising media in 2021 and 2025. Trust rises across every medium. Television ranks highest in 2025 at 46%, up from 33%, followed by cinema and radio at 42%. Influencer advertising remains lowest at 25%, despite increasing from 19%. Direct mail records one of the largest gains, rising from 23% to 35%. Television advertising is the most trusted medium.
Bar chart comparing trust in brands advertised across five media. TV ranks highest at 24%, twice YouTube’s 12%. Newspapers and magazines follow at 20%, while radio and podcasts reach 17%. Social media ranks lowest at 9%. Brands advertised on TV are trusted by more people than those advertised on other measured media.
Donut charts comparing where people are most likely to find advertising they trust. TV ranks highest at 35%, well ahead of newspapers at 19% and radio at 16%. Magazines follow at 12%, search at 11% and cinema at 9%. Social media, outdoor and direct mail each score 6%, while YouTube and websites are lowest at 4%. TV advertising is seen as the most trustworthy.
Bar chart comparing trust in advertising media based on their ability to deliver on promises. TV ranks highest at 30%, followed by magazines at 29%, radio at 28% and newspapers at 26%, all above the 25% average. Social media scores 20% and video-sharing sites rank lowest at 19%. TV, magazines and radio provide the strongest trust signals.

Online brands are voting with their wallets

It’s no coincidence that online-first brands are now the biggest investors in TV advertising. They recognise what TV offers: trust, credibility, visibility, and effectiveness. It helps legitimise these virtual businesses in the eyes of consumers.

Bar chart comparing TV advertising spend by business sector. Online-born businesses invest the most at £774 million, well ahead of food at just over £500 million. Household FMCG, cosmetics and personal care, government and social organisations, entertainment and leisure, travel and transport, and finance each spend around £290–£330 million. Retail spends the least at about £190 million. Online-born businesses are the largest investors in TV advertising.

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