New research has shone a fresh light on the evolving ways UK adults consume media – and how our notion of trust is changing.
The ‘Audiences Unbound’ report, produced by market research company Trinity McQueen, analysed how a “growing audience” is moving away from traditional content consumption and towards new digital and on-demand platforms.
Additionally, the research found that 40% of British adults now trust politicians more than the media, making it “extremely troubling” for news platforms to maintain credibility.
The findings also expose evidence of a “backlash” against filter bubbles and articles that are delivered to social media feeds by algorithms.
It found that Brits were, instead, twice as likely to prefer content recommendations that have been curated by experts and journalists.
“With our lives becoming increasingly mobile and digital, relevance in content is more important than ever as consumers are losing all sense of authenticity,” Robin Horsfield, managing director, Trinity McQueen told Newsline.
“Sadly, we see confidence in the credibility of media outlets at an all-time low also.
“With our study uncovering that 40% of Brits now trust politicians more than the media, it is a time where people have turned against the news system and are relying on experts. The ‘unbound audience’ we have identified are heavy media consumers and as a result of the fake news phenomenon, our notion of who to trust is changing.
“This is extremely troubling for news outlets that position themselves as credible and objective sources of information. Now is the time for the media to take action and reassert themselves as specialist commentators on political topics to regain national trust before reputations become permanently damaged.”
The report also highlights the “continuing struggle” for online advertisers to get their messages across in a more personalised and targeted way: more than half of consumers (56%) now use ad-blocking software on their laptops/PCs but around half (46%) say they don’t mind online advertising if it’s relevant to them.
Further insights reveal that 82% of Brits have seen scheduled TV shows in the past week, but only 57% say they prefer to watch this way – and 29% say they would be happy to never watch scheduled TV ever again.
Meanwhile, 79% of people have read a newspaper article online or via an app, but only 36% now prefer to get their newspapers in print.
(The research was carried out on a UK sample of 1,000 adults)
