Advertising's positive role in society gains recognition

Nearly half (46%) of British consumers believe advertising has a positive impact on society, while 42% say that advertising can help to make the world a better place, a new survey has revealed. The comprehensive research from Credos, the Advertising Association’s think tank, highlights how both consumers and industry practitioners perceive advertising’s role in society and was released to coincide with the AA’s annual LEAD summit last week. The findings are based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,000 people, plus individual interviews with smaller groups, as well as a poll of 105 advertising industry executives. Encouragingly, following a difficult year of damaging headlines about brand safety and data privacy abuses, the AA/Credos report found that people in the UK are “relatively positive” about advertising’s impact on society.