DIGITAL
ENSURING CONSUMER TRUST IN THE ERA OF ‘THE INFLUENCER’
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BY BILL TAYLOR, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, OPSEC SECURITY
Despite what the name would suggest, it would appear that influencers are in fact proving to have a meagre influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Te latest OpSec Security Consumer Barometer, which explores the factors that influence consumer trust, found that only 6 per cent of customers globally are swayed by influencers or celebrity endorsements when choosing which retail channel to use when making a purchase.
Tis is despite influencer marketing continuing to dominate across both online and – increasingly – offline channels, with big budgets often behind brand and influencer partnerships. So, what are the factors driving this fall from grace? When influencers fail to influence, brands can gain valuable insights into consumers and what inspires their trust.
AUTHENTICITY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME Consumer trust is hard earned and easily lost. It needs to be nurtured and developed over time - just like in any relationship. OpSec’s annual Consumer Barometer sheds important light on the consumer-brand relationship and customers’ perceptions of the widening array of physical and online retail channels available to them.
Te poll of 2,500 consumers globally found that an overwhelming 91 per cent value the integrity and authenticity of a brand over anything else when evaluating who they shop with. It may not be an entire coincidence, then, that the same percentage – 91 per cent - of respondents have concerns about buying goods from social channels. As influencers and social media often go hand-in-hand, consumer scepticism of one is bound to bleed into the other.
Tis overwhelming uncertainty could in part be attributed to the negative shopping experiences consumers are having when using social channels. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of the counterfeit products unwittingly purchased by consumers were bought from social media ads, second only to counterfeit purchases from online marketplaces (26 per cent). Unsurprisingly, the study found that links in social media posts are the least trusted method of purchasing goods – a stark point for marketing managers reviewing their influencer budgets for the year ahead, with “link to buy in my Stories!” the crux of many an influencer/ brand partnership. Almost half (49 per cent) of consumers deem these channels untrustworthy, while only 38% place their trust in social media ads.
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