Global: How much do consumers trust travel advertising?

A new survey by YouGov conducted in 17 international markets asked consumers about the types of brands they think make the most trustworthy and believable ads.

We measured advertising trust across 11 categories and travel ads ranked seventh highest on the list among global consumers. Roughly 7% of global respondents say the travel industry makes the most believable ads, behind the likes of advertising for food (18%), clothing(14%), electronics (14%) and cars (12%).

Of all the markets in the survey, consumers in Australia feature highest in their propensity to trust travel ads (14%). Drilling deeper into the data shows that it’s older audiences in Australia who are most likely to say so (18-24: 5%; 25-34: 9%; 35-44: 12%; 45-54: 16%; 55+: 18%).

Consumers in Hong Kong (13%), Denmark (11%) and Singapore (9%) emerge second, third and fourth on the global list in saying that travel adverts are believable.

Consumers in Germany (7%), France (7%) and the UAE (7%) are as likely as the global audience to say that they believe that travel advertisements are trustworthy.

When it comes to believing that travel brands create realistic adverts, a smaller proportion of adults in Great Britain are likely to agree with the statement (6%).

Adults in urban Mexico are the least likely to say that travel brands make believable adverts (4%).

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Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 511 and 2628 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in November 2021. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.