By Dan Wilks, Director, Credos
If you look at the headline figures from our latest research, you might think it’s time for celebration – to pop that champagne and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. Public trust in ads has hit a five-year high of 40%. Distrust is down. The young are becoming more trusting of the ads they see, particularly on social media. Over half (54%) of 18-34-year-olds trust social media ads in 2025, up from just 32% in 2021. We are seeing the fruits of hard work, particularly the ASA’s ad awareness campaign; when people know advertising is regulated, they are twice as likely to trust it.
But before we declare “job done,” we need to scratch under the surface. Because what we are seeing in 2025 is a fascinating, and somewhat alarming, paradox. Rising overall trust sits alongside an increasing sense of unease and suspicion.
We have entered an era of “low-level vigilance”. The modern consumer navigates the internet not as a passive observer, but with a hardened mindset of “trust no one and question everything”. This isn’t necessarily about advertising specifically; it is about the online world as a place to be feared. When people hear about big brands getting hacked or see daily headlines about online harm, their perception of advertising is also muddied.
Our research identified a “concept versus experience” gap. When we ask people about the advertising, they revert to a concept of big brands, jingles, humour, celebrity, and nostalgia. These ads can be enjoyable or irritating but ultimately, they are perceived as harmless. In contrast, their day-to-day experience is complex, contradictory, and often concerning. This gap is where suspicion and fatigue set in.
So, what is driving this vigilant mindset?
First, there is the perennial issue of bombardment. It remains the number one driver of distrust. It’s the interruption of content, the endless repetition and irrelevance of the same creative, and the sheer volume of messaging. We are, quite literally, getting in people’s way.
Second, and perhaps more dangerously, is the rise of suspicious advertising, which includes scams, misleading ads, and intrusion. The importance of this factor in driving distrust has increased more than any other since 2018. A staggering 17% of people claim to have been scammed by an ad in 2025. And we aren’t just talking about disappointing products; we are talking about money stolen and brands that don’t exist.
This environment creates a toxicity that infects legitimate advertising. As one of our research participants put it, “It makes people not trust legitimate ads either”. We are seeing deeply specific fears emerge: deepfakes of Martin Lewis or Keir Starmer selling crypto are now top of mind for almost everyone we spoke to. Category specific concerns have emerged around financial investment schemes and crypto for older people, and for younger audiences, unverified health and beauty claims playing on insecurities around body image.
We also see an “Influencer Paradox.” As a category, people distrust influencer advertising. Yet, almost everyone has a specific influencer they trust implicitly. Trust here is fragile; it relies on relevance and disclosure. People want to know when an ad is an ad. The same applies to AI. While AI is eroding perceived authenticity, people are crying out for regulation and disclosure – they want to know what is real and what is synthetic.
So, how do we build upon the 40% trust levels while combating the hardening consumer mindset? The data points to three clear essentials.
First, we must address bombardment. We have to reduce wastage and ensure the right number of ads get to the right people at the right time. Disrespecting the audience’s attention will result in their distrust.
Second, we need cross-industry collaboration to kill scam ads. The public sees platforms as having the primary responsibility here, but regulators and the government are also on the hook. is the prevalence of scam ads is an existential threat to the credibility of our entire ecosystem.
Third, and most importantly, we must remember what advertising does best. The number one driver of trust, consistently, and across all ages is enjoyment. People trust ads that use music, humor, visual craft, and moving storytelling.
There is a massive opportunity here because currently, only 37% of people say they enjoy advertising. We are boring people into distrust. Older audiences are craving narrative and emotional engagement; younger audiences increasingly want “compressed creativity” – clever, concise messages that land fast.
The path of responsible growth is clear. We must be trustworthy, compliance with the rules is the baseline. But we must also be trusted. That means respecting the user experience, protecting them from fraud, and, crucially, entertaining them. If we can close the gap between people’s concept of advertising and their lived experience, then we can turn this period of vigilance into a period of value.
The Advertising Association’s Trust Working Group will be releasing a full action plan later this year to address these issues. Until then, the mandate is simple: Make it safe, make it relevant, and please, make it enjoyable.
