by Sara Guaglione , (December 12, 2017)

While most people get the majority of their news and information from social platforms, the sites and apps owned by publishers are more trusted, according to a recent study, commissioned by Digital Content Next, a trade association representing premium digital publishers, and conducted by Magid Associates.

The study, “Trust as a Proxy for Brand Value: Understanding the Role of Trust in Digital Content Consumption,” aims to highlight the need for publishers and advertisers to “understand about trust in digital media and the components needed to build a successful consumer relationship,” according to DCN statement.

The study found Facebook’s newsfeed is the No 1 place users go to get digital content, but only 55% trust the content they find there.

Six in 10 consumers (62%) agree “there’s so much random content on social media, there’s no way to tell if an article is credible or not.”

Most consumers, including Millennials, say publishers’ websites are better sources of news than search engines, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Apple News.

“This research confirmed consumers lack trust in social-platform content, and that it’s spilling over into their perceptions of brand sites and apps,” stated Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next. “While we don’t recommend that publishers walk away from the relationships they have with the platforms, we do recommend they urge the platforms to better utilize and protect trusted news and entertainment brands.”

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll also found Americans are growing increasingly confident in the press.

Some 48% of more than 14,300 adults polled said they had a “great deal” or “some” confidence in the press in September, up from 39% last November.

Fake news can endanger that trust; 82% of those surveyed in the DCN survey agree that “there is a lot of fake news on social media.”

But consumers also complained of misleading headlines, too many ads, and sensational, clickbait articles on publishers’ sites and apps, which threaten to break their trust in the brand.

DCN argues consumer trust in publishers’ sites can impact the trust they have in advertisers on the sites, as well.

“Higher trust in brand sites results in a trust halo effect for advertisers. Brand sites provide a significant boost in advertiser trust and positive perception compared to social media and YouTube,” DCN stated.

“Trust as a Proxy for Brand Value” surveyed 1,000 online respondents in the U.S. in October 2017, who had a home internet connection, engaged with social media and brand sites/apps weekly or more and were between 18 to 64.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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