Vividata, (vividata.ca) a leading Canadian cross-media and consumer behaviour research firm, has partnered with Kantar on the release of the Trust in News Study. The study delves into how Canadians feel about their news sources in the era of ‘fake news’, their preferred and trusted sources, and the importance of quality journalism. The Trust in News study shows that 28% of Canadians feel that as a result of fake news, their trust in mainstream news has suffered.
“Trust in News is an important study for Vividata’s membership base and for Canadian journalism in general”, says Vividata President and CEO Pat Pellegrini, Ph.D. “News audiences are increasingly well informed and using more sources. We all want to have confidence that the content we read and share is accurate. By partnering with Kantar, who conducted Trust in News in a number of other markets globally, we can see key areas of strength and opportunity for news organizations here in Canada.”
The study also looks at Canadians’ willingness to pay for news, and finds that while 65% of news audiences feel they can access everything they want for free, there is a direct relationship between how trustworthy a source is and our willingness to pay for it. Adults under 55 years of age make up 59% of those paying for online news, while 1 in 4 adults aged 18-34 pay for online news. Not unexpectedly, traditional media such as Print, TV and Radio are much higher on audience trust than social media websites and apps.
Discussing some of the other implications from the research, Mark Wood, Vice President at Kantar states, “Trust in media goes beyond the content as it impacts marketing. Advertising in trusted environments not only makes ads more effective as consumers pay more attention to the message, it also provides assurances of brand safety and ultimately protecting the reputation of your brand.”
Other findings from Trust in News include:
- 48% of Canadians catch up on news more than once a day.
- 25% use more sources for news than a year ago
- 65% use a mobile device or tablet to access
- Radio is the most trusted source at 82%
- 38% of Canadians used Facebook for news in the past week, while 16% used YouTube
Phillip Crawley, Chief Executive Officer and Publisher at The Globe and Mail, and Vividata Vice-Chair, affirms, “While we see that traditional news media retain higher levels of trust, it is crucial to protect the quality of journalism that earned this loyalty. This release from Vividata and Kantar, when combined with Vividata’s extensive cross-media capabilities and understanding of consumer behaviours, can offer key learnings for online and offline publishers as well as those who plan and buy media.”
Trust in News is Vividata’s second new syndicated study to be released in 2018, and like the recently released Canadian Cannabis study, Trust in News is linked to their widely used Survey of the Canadian Consumer.
Based on a representative sample of 2,000 Canadians, the Trust in News study was fielded in April 2018.
