Magazines Again Ranked Tops in Trust by Consumers

“Getting the news” in our multi-channel world has gotten easier than ever – literally we carry access to just about any source with us at all times. At the same time, this ease has muddied the water about what sources we can trust and rely on.

Yet there’s one channel that’s consistently rising to the top when it comes to consumer trust.

According to an article in Magnetic Media, the average person uses 6.7 sources of news, with TV being tops, followed by online sources. Close to half – 44% — of adults say they get their news on social media, even as these platforms are called onto the carpet for allowing fake news to proliferate.

So while many of us get our news there, only 39% believe the news they get on social media is trustworthy, according to the Ofcom Communications Market Report 2018. The highest ranked for trust? It’s magazines – 80% rank magazine media as the most trusted source for news.

(This is in keeping with other surveys on trust in the media, including the Edelman Trust Barometer, btw.)

That trust comes in part from the perception of quality and the depth of reporting and analysis possible in magazine media. It seems we innately recognize it and appreciate it when we see it, and this trust deepens our engagement with the experience – the now familiar trust bump of print magazines.

So what does this mean for brands?

“Magazine environments offer advertisers a quality context underpinned by engaged and passionate audiences who trust the content and find it relevant,” the Magnetic Media article continues. “We know from our Matter of Trust study that this has a rub effect on the advertising placed there resulting in increases in key brand metrics.”

If brands are trying to reach consumers where they are most engaged and most trusting to the message, advertising in printed new magazines is a win-win. We see evidence of the pendulum swinging back to print ads, as the digital frenzy cools.

Look, the age of the multi-channel consumer is upon us; that’s not going away. But what is becoming obsolete is a blind obedience to chasing eyeballs. Savvy brands are turning again to print to find the deep connection that only a trusted medium can deliver