[eMarketer] The nexus between user trust in social media platforms and engagement with ads

Issues of deceptive content, privacy, and safety continue to plague social media.

Building user trust is critical for social platforms and their advertisers; it affects how users feel on social media sites and may also impact whether users want to engage with ads there.

The eMarketer new Digital Trust Benchmark Report 2021, based on a Q2 2021 survey of 1,730 US social media users, evaluates how these users feel about nine major social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube—and reveals the extent to which trust affects usage and attitudes toward advertising.

Strong majorities of the respondents felt that the same three factors that most affect trust—Security (whether a platform protects user privacy and data), Legitimacy (whether a platform shows deceptive content), and Community (whether a platform provides a safe environment)—were either extremely or very impactful on their decision to engage with ads or sponsored content on a social platform.