ad nation 2026
Mind the (Media) Gap: New Ipsos Research Reveals Ongoing Gap Between Industry Assumptions and Canadian Media Behaviour
The fourth edition of the thinktv / Ipsos Ad Nation research highlights the ongoing gap between the media behaviours and advertising perceptions of the Canadian consumer compared to ad industry professionals. The findings further suggest that assumptions about consumer behaviour continue be influenced by the industry’s own media habits and experiences.
Industry Assumptions Don’t Always Reflect Public Reality
One of the clearest examples involves TikTok. While 30% of Canadians reported using TikTok in the past month, industry professionals estimated public usage at 89%, a gap of 59 percentage points. Similar patterns emerged across streaming services, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence tools.
Industry professionals are significantly more likely than Canadians to own streaming devices, subscribe to streaming services, and adopt emerging technologies. These differences help explain why perceptions of consumer behaviour can diverge from public-reported behaviour.
Trust in Advertising Remains Largely Unchanged
Among Canadians, distrust of advertising remains remarkably consistent. Twenty-nine percent say they do not trust any advertising today, compared with 30% a decade ago. Canadians’ top concerns include how personal data is being collected and used, while concerns about misleading or fake content rank highest among perceived risks associated with AI-generated advertising.
A Significant Disconnect on Social Media Advertising
Despite broad agreement that social media advertising can be misleading, low quality, and untrustworthy, industry professionals are substantially more likely than the Canadian public to “like” advertising on social media platforms. The industry respondents report that social media advertising is more likely to deliver attention and make you want to buy a product – the Canadian public disagrees, rating TV number one for all those attributes.
Canadians Continue to Value Shared Television Experiences
While media consumption continues to fragment across platforms and devices, live television offers forms of engagement and connection that remain distinct within today’s media landscape.
Why It Matters
This research makes a simple point that’s easy to forget: we are not the audience. The gap between what media professionals and Canadians do is wide, and it shows up in the assumptions behind many media plans. Mark Ritson calls it the first rule of marketing: you are not the customer. This research has been conducted four times over the past decade, and the gap hasn’t closed. Ad Nation is an important reminder for all of us that an accurate understanding of the market takes deliberate effort, built on evidence, not assumptions.
Dive into the complete Ad Nation 2026 report to discover more need-to-know information about Canadians’ media usage, advertising perceptions, and where we – the ad industry – get it wrong.
Methodology
The Ad Nation 2026 study comprises of two samples: 18-59-year-old Canadians that do not work in marketing and media industries collected by an online Ipsos panel (surveyed from July 13-20); and 18-59-year-old members of the CMA, who qualify as advertisers/marketers, content publishers or working in media, creative or digital agencies (surveyed from July 6 – August 2).
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STEVE LEVY
Ipsos Canada
Early in his career Steve spent time in Sales at Xerox and Marketing at Mars foods in the UK. Since the late 80’s Steve worked with several research organizations in Asia and Canada before merging with Ipsos where he has had several leading roles both domestic and internationally. He is the author of (among other things) the Most Influential Brand Study (Globally). He is a Canadian Marketing Association lifetime achievement award recipient, a Fellow of CRIC (Canadian Research and Insights Council), a Young Lions Jury member and a frequent public speaker/commentator. Steve is also a very active member board member of the Earth Rangers charity and the St, Mikes Foundation. Passionate about the world of public speaking he frequently runs workshops on the subject for a broad range of organizations. His bio would not be complete without saying that he takes his eyewear very seriously.