A question we often hear at BrandConnex Is: “Do award badges actually affect consumers’ decisions?”
This article examines an independent academic study that addresses this exact question; specifically about a U.S. News & World Report badge.
This research was conducted by an independent academic institution and is unaffiliated with U.S. News & World Report.
A Badge from a Reputable Third-Party: A Memorable, Short-Hand Indicator of Credibility
Independent research conducted by Mathew S. Isaac, Ph.D., Chair of the Marketing Department at Seattle University, indicates that an ad displaying a U.S. News & World Report badge has a more favorable impact on consumers than a similar ad without a badge. The ad with the badge did more to enhance the advertiser’s credibility, recall, and people’s willingness to do business with the advertiser.
In a study published in 2020, Dr. Isaac conducted a “billboard test,” showing two mock billboards to more than 500 participants.1 The billboards were ads for a law firm with nearly identical messages, except that one showed a visible badge from U.S. News & World Report, while the other did not.
Dr. Isaac wanted to examine whether “signs that contain accolade claims, endorsements, awards, or honors that an organization has received … from a third-party entity or accrediting body” benefitted from displaying a visible symbol of credibility from a trusted organization, or whether a more minimal design was more effective.
To mimic the amount of time a driver or passenger might actually get to view a billboard while in the road, viewers in this test got to view one of the billboards for only three seconds.
Half of the participants got a three-second glimpse of Billboard #1, which contained a U.S. News Best Law Firms badge. The other half saw Billboard #2 — with Best Law Firms in large letters, but no badge.
Next, the participants were asked questions about the mock billboards.
Those who saw the billboard containing the badge:
- Were almost twice as likely to remember that it mentioned an award than those who saw the other billboard (52.6% versus 26.3%).
- Gave the law firm higher marks for credibility than those who saw the non-badge billboard.
- Were more inclined to select the law firm to represent them in a personal-injury case than those who saw the other billboard.
Making Ads More Effective at a Glance: The Power of a Visual Symbol from a Trusted Publisher
Dr. Isaac’s results indicated that “even when viewing a sign quickly, consumers are sensitive to source attribution.”
The results also demonstrated that attribution to a trusted third-party was central to viewers’ perceptions of the ads. “Without sufficient attribution, an accolade claim may not even be encoded as a legitimate honor from a third-party entity, and may therefore be dismissed as non-credible,” Dr. Isaac noted.
Ads displaying visible accolades from credible third-parties, especially ones based on objective, measurable criteria, are a way of displaying a testimonial — one of the most trusted forms of advertising.2
Three Key Takeaways: The Power of Visual Symbols and Third Party Endorsements
- A picture is worth a thousand words: Seeing the familiar and trusted U.S. News badge and typography triggers the brain’s pattern-recognition processes in a way that mere words cannot match.
- Not just any badge will do. Dr. Isaac advises caution: “The positive effects of source attribution are likely to be contingent on the third-party entity itself being familiar and credible to consumers and might not hold if the third-party is unknown or considered non-credible.” U.S. News is certainly familiar to consumers; for example, a majority of U.S. undergraduates consulted our website at some point in their college search.
- Customers believe third-party testimonials to be one of the most credible forms of advertising; and lists such as “a top 10, 25, or 50” curated by experts are some of the most powerful.
To learn how organizations in your industry are using U.S. News badges to promote their award-winning programs, and to find out how you can use your award from U.S. News & World Report in your marketing, contact us. We have specialists in every award-winning category who can tailor a plan to your needs.
Editorial integrity is our highest priority. Purchase of a badge license will never affect our rankings of companies or award eligibility.
See also: Learn more about advertisements that consumers trust, and even welcome.
References
- Isaac, Mathew S. “A Sign of Trust? The Value of Source Attribution in Accolade Claims.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, vol. 4, no. 2, Aug. 2020, pp. 23–36. journals.shareok.org, https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2020.v4.i2.a71.
- Savvy Consumers May Be More Trusting of Ads Than Marketers Expect | The New York Times. https://files.parsintl.com/eprints/S049050.pdf. Accessed 29 May 2025.
- What Creators and Consumers of Lists Need to Know | Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-things-numbered/202301/what-creators-and-consumers-of-lists-need-to-know. Accessed 29 May 2025.
