During a survey carried out in 2024, 80 percent of responding consumers from Germany stated that it was important for them that they trusted a brand they purchase or used. In Japan, brand trust was named as an important purchase criterion by 94 percent of respondents.

According to a survey of consumers in the United States carried out between December 2022 and January 2023, approximately 66 percent of respondents reported they would gain trust in a company if it was transparent about how they use their personal data. Around 55 percent of respondents reported that reducing unnecessary data collection was an additional factor that would help them gain trust in a company or brand.

According to a survey conducted among consumers in the United States in June 2022, 54 percent of respondents said that their trust in a brand would increase if said brand allowed them to delete data they have provided. This was followed by 48 percent of respondents citing transparency over data leaks as a trust booster.

According to the survey conducted in the United States in April 2022, over 40 percent of consumers who have lost trust in a brand have stopped using it and started using products from its competitors. Another 40 percent reported they stopped using a brand and will never use it again. Some 10 percent of respondents mentioned continuing to use the brand despite losing trust in it.

In a 2022 survey conducted among consumers in the Asia-Pacific region, 30 percent of the respondents reported that companies' use of technology to personalize experiences significantly increased the their trust in brands. In comparison, personalization using technology decreased trust in brands for four percent of the respondents.

During a 2020 survey carried out among online shoppers in the United States, 66 percent of respondents aged 18 to 24 (Generation Z) stated that the price of a product impacted their willingness to trust a brand. Reviews were the second most important factor for this age group, named by 60 percent of respondents.

During a 2020 survey carried out among online shoppers in the United States, 65 percent of respondents stated that the price of a product impacted their willingness to trust a brand. Reviews ranked second, named by 53 percent.

During a February 2023 survey, a slight majority of U.S. adults said that they trust reviews from other users or customers of a product or service either a great deal (10 percent) or a little (42 percent). Around 30 percent of respondents trusted TV advertising. Influencers generated the highest level of distrust, with nearly half of the respondents suspicious of them.

FOX TV was the most trusted news media brand in Turkey in 2024, reaching 60 trust scores. Cumhuriyet and Sözcü followed in the ranking, with 54 and 53 trust scores, respectively.

During a 2023 survey, the average net trust in brands among U.S. adults stood at 20 percent. However, among Gen Z adults, that average was lower, at 11.26 percent, about half that of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, with 22.41 and 22.23 percent, respectively.

During a 2022 survey carried out among consumers who purchased something online in the past six months from various countries across the globe, 60 percent stated they believed that trustworthiness and transparency were the most important traits of a brand, dominating all other traits. A year earlier, the share stood at 55 percent.

A study from September 2020 on consumers sentiments towards brands in the United States, found that 65 percent of respondents said that they felt that retail brands were trustworthy. At the same time, 18 percent of respondents stated that retail brands were not trustworthy.

According to a study from September 2020 on the impact of news advertising, 38 percent of responding U.S. adults said that they felt that a brand was much more or a little more trustworthy if they saw it advertised in news. However, another 16 percent of respondents said that they felt quite the opposite.

According to a survey conducted in Japan in April 2024, more than 24 percent of the respondents stated that their trust in a brand increases after seeing a PR post by an influencer. A majority of the respondents stated that the trust does not change.

According to a survey conducted in 2022, usage of untrusted brands in the United States was fairly mixed. Approximately 36 percent of consumers, who did not trust a brand, said they never used it. However, about a third of U.S. consumers, who did not trust certain brands, said they would still use them but typically try to avoid doing so.

In 2022, nearly 80 percent of millennials said they were driven to buy a product because it was a trusted brand name. At roughly 60 percent, baby boomers were the least likely generation to be convinced to purchase an item for that reason.

In a survey of consumers conducted in the United States in the first quarter of 2021, 26 percent of respondents cited poor experience with the customer service to be one of the leading reasons for losing trust in a brand. Faulty product was also a main reason to distrust a brand.

During a 2024 global survey, a little more than one-quarter – or 26 percent – of responding consumers said they trusted brands generally to use artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly.

In 2018, in France, close to 50 percent of young people considered that trusting a brand was a crucial criterion when they were buying food. Furthermore, 26 percent of them felt the same way about subscribing to banking services.

According to the findings of a global survey, personal recommendations from friends and family were the most trusted advertising channel among consumers in 2021. Nearly 90 percent of respondents trusted word-of-mouth recommendations, while brand websites and brand sponsorships were also considered highly reliable sources.

Traditional media states its claim

When it comes to advertising perception, old media formats can still be gold. Various surveys conducted in 2021 have indicated that television, radio, and print still boast the highest trust among all advertising media in the United States, United Kingdom, and several other markets. But despite their seemingly trustworthy reputation, not all traditional media outlets have managed to draw equally impressive advertising investments from brands and companies in recent years, as the decline in print advertising activity has demonstrated.

To trust or not to trust in social media

Despite being one of the most popular pastimes among millions of online users, social media has been voted the least credible form of advertising by consumers across many regions. Survey findings showed that a mere 10 percent of internet users in the UK trusted ads they saw on social networks, which might be surprising to read considering that these platforms have become a vital driver of e-commerce growth nationwide. One reason for the lack of trust might be the comparatively low level of oversight and regulation on these platforms paired with people’s wariness of advertising scams. Interestingly, trust levels in social media advertising vary significantly depending on the region: As of 2021, online users in India displayed the highest trust, whereas respondents from Denmark, Sweden, and the UK were the most skeptical.