The Value of Credibility From Trusted Third-Party Rankings
As much as everybody dislikes ads, marketing professionals may be surprised to learn that there are some types of ads consumers find useful and even welcome.
In a study about consumer skepticism conducted by Kent Grayson, a Northwestern University Marketing professor, researchers found that some types of advertising are still surprisingly effective today–as long as they are considered trustworthy.1
“Certain tactics, such as offering to match a competitor’s low prices, reporting a high rating on a site like Amazon or Yelp, or mentioning a recent ranking by a third-party source like U.S. News & World Report, received the most positive reactions from participants,” wrote Zach Schonbrun in an article in an article in The New York Times covering the study.2
The researchers showed study participants a list of 20 different advertising techniques to assess how credible they found each type.
The researchers found that if a product or organization was highly ranked on a trusted third party list, 93% of participants viewed the marketing technique positively. The most frequent word they used to describe a ranking on a third-party list was “credible.”
The participants also rated this advertising technique as the number 1 most positive technique out of all 20 being assessed in the study.
- “A company’s ad reports a product’s exact position (e.g., #3) on a ranked list (e.g., a top 10 list) conducted by a verifiable third-party source (e.g., Consumer Reports)”
That’s in contrast to other advertising tactics, such as “using paid actors instead of real people, or even hiring celebrity endorsers to express their affinity for a product,” which study participants rated as “deceptive or manipulative.”
Surprisingly, Consumers Who are Aware of Advertising Techniques May View Ads Even More Favorably
Contrary to what many people would expect, knowledge of persuasion techniques in advertising can actually work in favor of the advertiser–as long as the advertising technique is viewed as credible.
Researchers studied whether consumers’ personal knowledge of persuasion techniques affected whether they viewed the marketing techniques positively or negatively.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that when study participants were primed to think about why companies may choose one marketing technique versus another, study participants actually reported trustworthy advertising techniques as MORE trustworthy than participants who were not thinking about persuasion techniques at all.
As consumers today are more aware of advertising techniques than ever before, this finding demonstrates the importance of using credible or helpful marketing techniques. Using credible or helpful marketing techniques can lead to even higher positive responses to ads in savvy consumers.
Does Credible Advertising, such as Third-Party Rankings, Influence Consumers’ Behavior?
The evidence points to yes: trusted third-party rankings, specifically U.S. News rankings, do affect consumers’ behavior.
In independent research conducted by Mathew S. Isaac, Ph.D., Chair of the Marketing Department at Seattle University, researchers found that ads showing a badge from U.S. News & World Report were rated higher in credibility than ads without a badge. The study participants were also more inclined to select the organization with an ad displaying a badge.3
Additionally, in research conducted by Devin G. Pope, The Wharton School, he found that when patients need non-emergency care and their choice of hospital is not limited by insurance, U.S. News rankings have a significant effect on patients’ hospital choice.
“I estimate that these rankings have influenced over 15,000 hospital decisions made by Medicare patients and 750 million dollars in revenue between 1993 and 2004,” Pope noted.4
He also found that U.S. News rankings can convince patients to travel farther distances to get care. “The average value to an individual of a change in rank by ten spots is equivalent to the value placed on the hospital being approximately one mile closer to the individual,” Pope noted. He also found that rank changes have the largest impact on patients who live more than 50 miles from the hospital whose rank changed.
Research from Wake Forest University also demonstrates that U.S. News rankings affect applicants’ choice of university enrollment once they have been accepted, independent of other factors.5
Summary: Which Advertising Techniques Work Best?
Credible ads are of utmost importance, especially in an age in which customers are more aware of advertising techniques than ever before. Research shows that rankings and badges from U.S. News & World Report are viewed as credible by consumers, and influence their choices and behavior.
In The New York Times article, advertising experts expressed several key insights about effective advertising that gains consumers’ trust:
- There is power in proof over persuasion. Adam Tucker, president of Ogilvy & Mather New York, explains that “we’re advising our clients on the importance of ‘proving’ over ‘selling’ brand values.”
- Consumers are often willing to listen, as long as brands “play fairly,” according to Chris Raih, the founder and president of the Los Angeles ad agency Zambezi. He believes that to combat an “atmosphere of disbelief,” brands need to use their platforms to “bridge gaps, communicate and inspire.”
- Authenticity is key. Unlike other measurable metrics, authenticity of a brand and its values can only be proven to consumers over time.
To learn how your business can benefit from using U.S. News badges to promote itself, whether award-winning rankings and to find out how you can leverage a trusted 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.
References
- Mathew S Isaac, Kent Grayson. Beyond Skepticism: Can Accessing Persuasion Knowledge Bolster Credibility? Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 43, Issue 6, April 2017, Pages 895–912. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucw063.
- 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.
- 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.
- Devin G. Pope. Reacting to rankings: Evidence from “America’s Best Hospitals.” Journal of Health Economics, Volume 28, Issue 6,2009, Pages 1154-1165, ISSN 0167-6296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2009.08.006.
- Griffith, Amanda and Rask, Kevin. The Influence of the U.S. News and World Report Collegiate Rankings on the Matriculation Decision of High-Ability Students: 1995-2003 (August 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=595223 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.595223.
