Thinkbox
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.
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.
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.
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.
The data is consistent
When trust goes under the microscope, the findings are usually the same:
- Ipsos found TV ads are the most trusted (35%); only 6% cited social media, and YouTube just 4%
- Edelman Trust Barometer 2025 placed social media as the least trusted sector in the UK (28%)
- Signalling Success found TV, magazines and radio deliver the most brand trust; video sharing sites and social scored lowest
- 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.
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.
