In 2012, Cebuco and Intomart Gfk conducted research on trust and value that showed readers have a strong connection to and confidence in the newspaper they read. 

To prove the positive effect this strong connection and trust have on advertisers, De Persgroep Advertising in the Netherlands asked Ruigrok-NetPanel to carry out further research.

This is what they found:

Execution of the research: To register which effect the environment has on an advertisement, researchers presented some participants with advertising in the context of a printed newspaper. Other test subjects were shown advertising in an online environment. A third group was shown an ad on its own. 

The research was carried out quantitatively online for readers and non-readers of newspapers and for visitors and non-visitors of Web sites.

The importance of likeability: Consumers now are being flooded with advertising messages. Advertisements are not always noticed by the target group, which is why the message doesn’t always reach the consumer.

Between consumer reach and the actual effect on brand recognition, brand preference, and purchase intent are a number of barriers that need to be broken. Likeability plays a major role.

What the target group intends with the likeability of an advertisement is the extent to which an advertisement is positively appreciated. When a consumer thinks an advertisement is fun, kind, or sympathetic, he or she touches a susceptible mood and is open for new things.

This mental state benefits the absorption of the communicated message (Franzen & Bouwman, 1990). 

High trust and value among readers: Readers attach great value to the newspaper they read. Nearly four-fifths of readers (78%) indicated the newspaper gives them knowledge, and three-quarters (73%) said reading the newspaper represents a moment for themselves.

Readers have great confidence in their newspaper. Of those surveyed, 70% indicated they trust the information they reading in their newspaper. More than half (56%) believe the newspaper offers them high-quality content they don’t find elsewhere. 

High trust and value among the visitors of news Web sites: If we look at Web site visitors, we see they attach great value to the news Web site they visit. Most (65%) have great confidence in the information on the site. And most (64%) also believe the news site offers them knowledge.

The visitors are less convinced of the uniqueness of the content on the news sites, with only 35% indicating the Web site offers them high-quality content they don’t find elsewhere, 17% disagrees (completely).

Visitors bond less with a news site than a newspaper. We can see this again in the statement, “My newspaper/this Web site play an important role in my daily life.”

While 40% of newspaper readers agree (completely) with this statement, only 25% of Web site visitors agree. Also, the other statements were evaluated more positively by the newspaper readers than by the Web site visitors. 

Ruigrok-NetPanel – July 2013 

Advertisements in the context of a newspaper often bring new ideas and teach us something new: When we have a look at the statements that belong with the dimension relevance, we can see that one-third of readers (33%) indicate the advertisement brings them new ideas. One-quarter (26%) believe the advertisement teaches them something they didn’t know.

Of those who viewed the advertisement without the context of a newspaper, 27% said it brings them new ideas and 19% indicated the advertisement teaches them something new.

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