Usage across platforms has brought new attention to the role of consumer trust. The authors’ assessment of usage and response metrics across platforms shows that use frequency contributes to consumers’ trust in advertising, with age also playing a meaningful role.
Examining platform use across a variety of consumers, they found that the greater use of particular platforms bred greater levels of trust:
- “Younger adults will prefer the efficiency-related functional communication provided by interactive mobile platforms, as opposed to other platform types.”
- “Conversely, older adults use television more and mobile less. Armed with this knowledge, advertisers better can target relevant age groups.”
- “Platform-use frequency of consumers’ interaction with certain platforms changes, therefore, so should the distribution of advertising dollars.”
Source: Kristin Stewart (assistant professor of marketing, California State University San Marcos) and Isabella Cunningham (the Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial Professor in Communications at the University of Texas at Austin)