New Study Reveals Most Americans Look to Medical Professionals for Trusted Information on Social and Societal Issues, After Family

According to the study Americans place the most trust in their families when seeking information around social issues ranging from mental health voting and civic engagement racial equity and justice climate change addiction and COVID19 Most trust their spouse or partner 72 closely followed by immediate family members 66 Doctors or medical professionals 60 close friends 59 and scientists 51 are the next most trustworthy messengers for the American public followed by local or community leaders including pastorsreligious leaders 40 teachers or school leaders 39 church members 32 local business owners 31While these messengers rose to the top on social and societal issues the report details the importance of understanding the interplay of reach and trust within the trusted messenger ecosystem which represents three key layers to reach validate and instill trust in a message To design and execute an effective campaign the findings underline the need to recognize the unique potential of quotAmplifiersquot with broad reach and relevance quotValidatorsquot with specific issue expertise and quotPersuadersquot with personal connection to audiences Social issue marketers should consider how these three key layers of the trusted messengers ecosystem work in concert to develop social impact campaigns that create awareness build knowledge and ultimately incite behavior changesquotWe know from experience that when it comes to inspiring action around social issues the messenger is just as important as the message itselfquot said Lisa Sherman President and CEO of the Ad Council quotThis study challenges all purposedriven marketers to broaden the definition of trusted messengers for unique audiences ensuring messages reach inform and inspire action In addition to the scale and relevance of celebrities influencers and others with vast networks these findings reinforce the need to complement their incredible platforms with the most relatable and trusted voices helping us all to make a difference in our communitiesquotIn addition to trends among the general population the study identified differences in trust across certain demographics including by political affiliation Two thirds 68 of Democrats trust scientists compared to just 38 of Republicans and 44 of independents Democrats also put notably more trust in professorsacademic experts 53 and teachersschool leaders 49 than Republicans 29 and 32 respectively and Independents 32 and 29 respectively Conversely more Republicans 54 trust pastors and religious leaders than Democrats 36 and Independents 31 Republicans also place a great deal more trust in fellow church members 45 than Democrats 28 and Independents 24The study also finds that rural respondents are somewhat less trusting of academic or expert messengers compared to those in urban and suburban locations While 54 of urban and 53 of suburban respondents consider scientists extremelyvery trustworthy just 45 of people in rural areas do Similarly a third of people in rural areas 32 place trust in professorsacademic experts compared to 44 in urban and 40 in suburban areas 33 of rural respondents trust teachers and school leaders compared to 43 of urban and 39 of suburban respondentsWhen determining trustworthiness for opinions and advice around social issues honesty 79 and consistency 73 stand out as the top contributing traits Americans also identified that having an unbiased opinion 71 presenting both sides of an issue 71 being trusted for other information or advice 70 and lacking a of conflict of interest 69 are all important characteristics of trustworthy messengers In contrast being endorsed or paid by companies 19 being a government official or having a large community of followers 23 and being a popular national or local voice 27 and 29 respectively were identified as traits that do not alone lend themselves to trustworthiness for social issuesData for the study was gathered from 37 qualitative interviews and an online survey completed by 2523 US respondents across diverse genders generations race ethnicity urbanicity income and political affiliation The study focused specifically on the individual messengers of information rather than sources themselves or the validity of information shared This focus differs from existing studies and allows for a closer look at who and why different people are believed to be trustworthyIn addition to key findings the report identifies recommendations for social impact marketers hoping to leverage the right voices for their campaigns and initiatives The full study and findings including the breakdown of trusted messengers across different social issues are published herequotWho Do We Trust With Our Lives The Trusted Messenger Studyquot is the debut study from the Ad Council Research Institute which launched February 3 2022 For 80 years research has been a key element of the Ad Council39s work driving the creation of social good campaigns across the country to raise awareness and ultimately inspire action Building from the nonprofit39s extensive experience ACRI works directly with brand corporate and nonprofit partners to conduct and publish public studies on a variety of important social issuesquotThe Ad Council Research Institute was started so we could arm brands nonprofits and others devoted to social causes with the insights needed to move the needle on some of our country39s most pressing issuesquot said Derrick Feldmann lead researcher and managing director of ACRI and Ad Council Edge quotWe39re looking forward to the meaningful learnings that will come from these collaborative public studies and how they will contribute to even more impactful social good initiatives in the futurequotACRI provides a variety of services ranging from public sentiment knowledge and behavior studies message and narrative testing influencer and trusted messenger insights and campaign performance measurement and optimization Topics for future ACRI research include workforce wellbeing food insecurity health access and equity unity misinformation and polarization and racial inequity All research is guided by the Institute39s core principles of empathy pragmatism and collaboration delivering results that are both authentic and actionableFor more information visit the ACRI websiteClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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New Study Reveals Most Americans Look to Medical Professionals for Trusted Information on Social and Societal Issues, After Family

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