Unrivalled trust

TV is held to the highest standards – and viewers know it. Both its shows and the advertising it carries are subject to stringent regulation. Everything is pre-vetted by a human before it reaches the screen at a significant cost to the broadcasters.

TV advertising has a responsibility to exercise its power and influence with care. And in doing so it avoids the scandals over fraud, inappropriate placement of ads, or data privacy that have dogged areas of online advertising.

TV’s high standards are a reason why it is regularly cited as the most trusted form of advertising. And this trust rubs off: being seen on TV gives brands a stamp of quality and credibility. This is one of the reasons why online brands have flocked to TV and become TV’s biggest category. TV denotes quality and assurance like nothing else.

Consumer trust is important to all advertisers, but it’s particularly important for brands in their growth phase where people are first getting to know them, and for certain categories, like finance (we all need to trust the people looking after our money).

TV advertising’s perceived cost also contributes to its trustworthiness. While TV is incredible value, the fact that people believe it to be a major investment is one of its strengths.

Research by house51 has revealed a very clear relationship between the perceived cost of an advertising channel, and key brand metrics, such as brand quality, and brand trust. As perception of advertising cost increases, so do trust and quality scores of brands advertising on those channels.