Traditional media reign supreme when it comes to Americans’ trust in information sources, according to [pdf] a survey released in June 2012 by Allstate, in association with National Journal. Three-quarters of the survey respondents said they trust information from public TV and radio either some or a great deal, more than double those who could same the same about social networks (30%). In general, a greater amount of respondents displayed trust in traditional media information sources than in online channels. For example, trust in newspapers (71%), cable news networks (70%), and network news (64%) outstripped trust in company websites (51%) and blogs and online forums (34%).
This gap in trust between traditional and online sources was also found in survey results released in January 2012 by Edelman. According to that report, 32% of “informed publics” in 20 countries around the world said they trust traditional information sources a great deal, representing a 10% rise from 29% in 2011, and remaining ahead of online sources, which rose 18% from 22% to 26% of these respondents. The report defined informed publics as aged 25-64, college-educated, in the top 25% of household income per age group in their country, and reporting significant media consumption and engagement in business news and public policy. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.
The e-Strategy Academy covers all aspects of digital marketing including search optimization & marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, video marketing, mobile marketing & public relations.