MORE than half of consumers browsing highly trusted local media websites act upon the advertising on the sites, new research has found.

Research by comScore for 1XL, the local media industry’s online advertising portal, found that  51% of local media site users undertook an action as a result of seeing an ad in the past month.

  • 46% undertook reference actions as a result of seeing an ad on a local media website in the past month, 21% visited a retail store, 19% purchased goods or services, and 17% undertook brand activism such as talking about the brand on social media.
  • 50% of respondents agreed that advertising and brands featuring on local media websites are trustworthy, compared to 42%  for national news sites, 41% for portals and 23% for social media.
  • 77% of local media consumers agree that, overall, the content on local media websites is trustworthy, the research found.

1XL managing director Scott Gill said: “We’ve all been taught that trust and reputation are important elements of branding. Today, though, trust is not simply a nice thing to have, but a critical strategic asset. Therefore, it makes sense to be specific about how and why it adds value.

“The level of trust in local media content is a key advantage of the medium. It attracts advertisers to local media sites because the environment of trust lends credibility to their messaging. Consumers will take them more seriously if they are on local media sites.”

“Eighty per cent of local media consumers agree that the site is an essential source of news and information, 69% agree that it provides information I cannot get elsewhere, and 77% of agree that content is relevant to them, the research found.”

The UK research was undertaken by comScore for 1XL by interviewing 3,300 digital users.