Dubai: When it comes to trust, “old” media still wins it among UAE residents.
The print category recorded the highest trust levels, at 48 per cent, and followed by what people listened to on radio (at 44 per cent) and picked up from their TV exposure (also at 44 per cent). But new-age tools of connecting, principally through blogs, had a lower trust factor at 39 per cent, according to a survey commissioned by the Middle East Public Relations Association (Mepra).
But the swirl of “fake news” across channels is hurting. As much as 59 per cent of those polled said that this is lowering the trust they place in mainstream news media.
One category that has been hogging the digital and social media - influencers - also scores less on trust, with a score of 39 per cent. But there were sharp variations depending on the demographic - influencers had a low 21 per cent trust level among Western expats in the UAE, but a high of 52 per cent among UAE nationals. Age, for obvious reasons, too dictated how influencers were viewed.
Among 40 years and over, trust of what influencers had to say was pegged at 31 per cent, but this goes up to 45 per cent among the 18-24 year olds. Clearly, for advertisers these are sentiments that will matter when they decide on which influencer to go with for their next campaign.
At 52 per cent, Facebook figured as the top trusted choice among digital platforms for information , with WhatsApp scoring 17 per cent and LinkedIn 10 per cent.
In a statement, Ray Eglington, Chairman of Mepra,“Over the past decade, paid advocacy such as advertising and the use of social media influencers has grown exponentially. But what is clear from this survey is that earning the voluntary endorsement of millions of ordinary people remains the key to brand success. That is what public relations is all about.”
The survey, in which views from 1,000 UAE residents were sourced, found that when it comes to advertising, the most trusted formats were television and billboards (both at 45 per cent), followed by radio (41 per cent), and online (37 per cent).
Yet, 57 per cent were of the opinion that they “trust advertising less today than they did five years ago”.
Interestingly, brand websites scored higher than both media and advertising for trustworthiness; 53 per cent of respondents said they trust corporate websites. Almost two-thirds of people alsohave more trust in what a third-party says about a good or a service than what a brand says about its own goods and services.
