Influencers Do Little To Build Consumer Trust: Study

by Ray Schultz , April 27, 2021

It may be time for brands to get back to basics in their email marketing. Above all, they should stop thinking that influencers can help them build trust, judging by a new study from Bluecore, conducted by Dynata.

Overall, 41% of consumers would be motivated to trust a brand by a successful purchase experience.

In addition, 22% would be swayed by good customer service and 22% by time spent using the product and having it meet expectations.

In contrast, only 10% would be persuaded by recommendations from friends or family, and a mere 6% by trusted influencers or celebrities. So don’t waste time on the latter in emails.

Millennials would be favorably affected by a successful customer service episode — 29% say so, along with 24% of Gen Zers, 20% of Gen Xers and 18% of boomers.

Willingness to trust a brand also depends on these factors, which are traditionally featured in emails:

Price — 68%
Reviews — 53%
Brand values — 43%
Company size — 21%
Company origin/location — 20%
Communication of how data is used — 20%
Other — 2%

What causes consumers to lose trust in a brand? The turnoffs include:

Faulty product — 28%
Poor customer service experience — 26%
Inadequate purchase experience — 21%
Acceptable product, just not suited for me— 11%
Negative reviews from friends/family — 6%
Poor or irrelevant digital communications — 4%
Review from influencer — 2%
Other — 2%

But it depends on age. Of the consumers polled, 40% of boomers would lose trust in a brand after a poor product or customer service experiences, versus 26% of Gen Xers, 24% of millennials and 21% of the Gen Z cohort.

Dynata surveyed 522 U.S. consumers in a two-week period in first-quarter 2021.

customer experience, customer service, email, trust-based marketing

2 comments about "Influencers Do Little To Build Consumer Trust: Study".

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Dan C. from MS Entertainment, April 28, 2021 at 9:43 a.m.
It would have been prudent to provide some actual insight relative to the headline. We have exectured influencer engagements and activations on behalf of major brands that blew all expectations away.

522 U.S. consumers? That's really a reflection of the 300 million consumers in the U.S.? How was the study conducted? This study was based on over 1,000 respondents over a year ago. Why is the study using only half the base it used just last year?

The reporting here is sloppy at best. The advice "to get back to basics in their email marketing. Above all, they should stop thinking that influencers can help them build trust..." is terrible.
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Ginger Cookie from Consultant, April 29, 2021 at 12:07 p.m.

So true...agree with Dan. Further, in noting minimal difference of just 15% between top importance of pricing/68% to brand "value".at 43% ..and huge $$$ placed on that oh so special "significance" of brand attributes, etc....clearly, there is a disconnect since brand value importance should be far higher to differeniate the omnichannel's brand "experience" in CX, content marketing, personalization, reviews, etc. The categories of research should be on a higher level of specifics, too much of a catch all in research stats.