Kantar finds a widening trust gap between OOH and social
Kantar surveyed 2,000 U.S. consumers and found 93% question whether online content was created by a person or generated by AI.
But the finding that jumped out to me was what happened when Kantar showed consumers the exact same creative on a billboard and on social. With the creative held constant, consumers rated the billboard:
- 71% vs. 29% more authentic
- 70% vs. 30% more credible
- 69% vs. 31% more believable
- 67% vs. 33% more trustworthy
The implication isn’t physical versus digital. Kantar’s research suggests physical media can act as an effectiveness multiplier for the broader campaign. When OOH runs alongside online or TV, nearly three-quarters of consumers rate the brand as trustworthy and credible; among consumers exposed to OOH in a multichannel campaign, 53% say they trust the brand more and 59% say it makes the brand more credible.
Kantar calls this the “Physical Layer” of the media plan: using real-world presence to establish credibility and make the channels around it work harder.
There’s also a generational wrinkle: 79% of Gen Z and 78% of Millennials say they’ve actively sought out more real-world experiences in the past year — suggesting this isn’t simply analog nostalgia.
