News consumption habits amongst business leaders

 News consumption 

Looking at how frequently business leaders surveyed consume news, the results show that reading local, national, international and business news has become engrained into lives as habit. For example:

  • Over 4 in 5 (83%1) business leaders surveyed read national news once a week or more
  • 4 in 5 (80%1) business leaders surveyed read local news once a week or more
  • Over two thirds (68%1) of business leaders surveyed read international news sites/papers once a week or more
  • Over half (52%1) of business leaders surveyed read trade/business magazines or websites once a week or more

The younger Millennial age group seems to be most on-top-of industry news with almost 3 in 5 (58%1) respondents aged 25-34 saying they read trade/business magazines or websites at least once a week.

The survey also looked at how business leaders access work-related news specifically. The data found that they most commonly consume news they read for their job via social media (e.g., LinkedIn) (46%). This was followed by, albeit not closely, reading whatever comes up on their news app (33%) and reading whatever is sent to them (28%). Interestingly, when it comes to work-related news, less than 3 in 10 (27%) are loyal to particular publications (e.g., searching for specific news sites or reading specific publications), which demonstrates the importance of wide-spread coverage.

Trust in media

Although the data indicates that business leaders surveyed read national and international news more frequently than trade/business magazines, trust in trade press appears to be higher. For example, just over three quarters (76%) of respondents trust2 trade/business magazines or websites, compared to around two thirds who trust2 national news (68%) and international news (67%). Interestingly, local news appears to be most trusted, with just over 4 in 5 (81%) business leaders surveyed saying they trust1 this type of publication. Trust1 in trade/business magazines is the highest amongst the 45-54 age group (88%) and lowest amongst the 35-44 age group (69%), although high majorities across all age groups trust2 these types of publications.

The Power of Media Visibility 

Building trust with a prospective client can be extremely difficult. If they have not experienced your offering, how then can you create this trust? Media visibility is a powerful tool in gaining it, as demonstrated by the finding that when looking for a third-party business to work with, well over half (58%) of business leaders surveyed say they would trust a brand/business more3 if they had seen it mentioned in a publication. For context, just 2% say they would trust a third-party business less4 if they saw it mentioned in a publication. This impact of trusting businesses is most likely to be influential for younger business leaders surveyed, as almost three quarters (74%) of those aged 25-34 said they would trust the business more3 if it was mentioned in a publication. Considering this, alongside the regularity of which business leaders surveyed are reading publications and the high trust they have in them, shows what a powerful tool media visibility can be.

Finally, given the link between media mentions and trust has been demonstrated, it’s perhaps no surprise that around two thirds (65%) of business leaders surveyed look5 for articles on a specific brand/business before doing business with them. In fact, just 1 in 25 (4%) say they never do this.

Overall, the data clearly demonstrates the importance and power of media visibility for building trust with clients, particularly prospective clients, and even converting awareness to purchase.

Notes:
1’Everyday’, ‘4-6 days a week’, ‘2-3 days a week’ and ‘once a week’ combined.

2’completely trust’ and ‘somewhat trust’ responses combined.

3’significantly more’ and ‘somewhat more’ responses combined.

4’significantly less’ and ‘somewhat less’ responses combined.

5’frequently’, ‘regularly’, and ‘sometimes’ responses combined.

Get in touch