60% of Instagram's users say they learn about products and services on the app

"60 per cent of Instagram’s 400m monthly active users say they learn about products and services on the app and 75 per cent say they are inspired to act — by searching for a brand’s website, going to a boutique or telling a friend."

Source:  FT, 22nd May 2016

The Edelman Trust Barometer 2016

2016 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER - Global Results from Edelman

Trust in advertising in the US by demographic and format

Source:  Research by Nielsen, reported in a press release, 13th October 2015

The Edleman Trust Barometer 2015

2015 Edelman Trust Barometer - Global Results from Edelman Insights

Search engines are more trusted than traditional media

Source:  Research from Edelman, reported by Quartz, 20th January 2015
""Online search engines have overtaken traditional media as the most trusted source for general news and information, according to a global survey of 27,000 people by Edelman, a public relations firm. The data will be presented to delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week."
Note - 'Hybrid Media' seems to mean things like Huffington Post, according to this definition:
"There's an emerging class of media brands that are smart, scrappy and unmatched in their digital DNA. Call them hybrids. They're digitally native and entrepreneurial. They use social and search to their fullest, yet many of them have a traditional ad-sales network that resembles their legacy-laced brethren. Hence the descriptor."

How consumers form impressions of brands

Source:  The Society For New Communications Research, reported by MediaPost, 9th October 2014

The rise of the sharing economy

Source:  Chart by Mashable & Statista from 2013 data from Nielsen, 3rd June 2014
See Nielsen's blog post here - 28th May 2014  (Why no chart Nielsen..?)
Note - it says 'the rise' but only includes data from 2013

Forms of advertising that people trust

Click to enlarge

Source:  Data from Nielsen, reported on their blog, 17th Sept 2013
Based on 58 countries

92% of consumers say they trust earned media like personal recommendations above other forms of advertising

"Ninety-two percent of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising—an increase of 18 percent since 2007, according to a new study from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. Online consumer reviews are the second most trusted form of advertising with 70 percent of global consumers surveyed online indicating they trust this platform, an increase of 15 percent in four years.
Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey of more than 28,000 Internet respondents in 56 countries shows that while nearly half (47%) of consumers around the world say they trust paid television, magazine and newspaper ads, confidence declined by 24 percent, 20 percent and 25 percent respectively since 2009. Still, the majority of advertising dollars are spent on traditional or paid media, such as television. In 2011, overall global ad spend saw a seven percent increase over 2010, according to Nielsen’s most recent Global AdView Pulse. This growth in spend was driven by a nearly 10 percent increase in television advertising, with countries, including the U.S. and China, attracting more advertising dollars versus the year prior."

Source:  Press release from Nielsen, 10th April 2012

Note - it's a pretty stunning figure - until you wonder who the 8% of people who trust TV & newspaper ads  above recommendations from friends...