Seven in 10 Brits don’t trust advertising

Uh oh. It looks like advertisers and consumers are going through a bit of a rocky patch. According to new research from Trinity Mirror Solutions, 69% of UK adults claim to distrust advertising, 42% say they do not trust brands, and 43% say they trust advertising less than they used to. Just 8% say they trust it more.

The research, carried out by Ipsos Mori, set out to shed light on attitudes towards trust in brands and advertising – including the severity of the issues they face, what’s driving the growing feeling of distrust and how they can regain it.

It found that for many people brands are seen as part of the establishment and seen to be ‘out of touch’ and ‘not connecting’ outside of London.

Irrespective of demographic, people do not believe their own lives are represented in advertising – especially outside of the capital, with 32% of people outside London more likely to say brands don’t understand what it’s like for people living in Britain today compared to 24% of Londoners.

The research also revealed that 58% of adults do not trust a brand until they have seen ‘real world proof’ that they have kept their promises, while 40% associate brands with being ‘pushy’ and 57% agree that brands should be more careful where they place their advertising.

As a consequence, advertising is not considered to be part of popular culture as it has been in the past, with 48% of adults agreeing that they do not talk about adverts as much as they used to.

In fact – and perhaps surprisingly – 60% had never heard of the recent controversial Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad.