Commentary

Advertising No Longer The Least-Trusted Profession, But Not By Much

Advertising is no longer the least-trusted profession in the world, but it still ranks near the bottom, according to an annual study conducted by consumer research giant Ipsos.

The 2021 edition of its worldwide most-trusted professions study ranks ad executives third from the bottom, just ahead of government cabinet officials and politicians in general.

Among American consumers, ad executives rank second from the bottom, just ahead of politicians.

On a global basis, the perceptions of ad professional trustworthiness has been trending downward in general, but crashed in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Ipsos did not release data for the U.S. in 2020, the perception of U.S. consumers has improved a percentage point between 2019 and 2021.

The most-trusted professions in the U.S. and worldwide are doctors, scientists and teachers, although in the U.S. the military, police, judges, clergy and bankers rank disproportionately high relative to the global averages of most-trusted professions.

advertisement

advertisement

Next story loading loading..