A story of distrust and doubt: Three quarters of people in Ireland do not trust ads on social networks

Reach Insights Press Release

SIGN UP, TAKE PART in our surveys for free and GET REWARDED! iReach Conversations 

18th February 2019

A story of distrust and doubt: Three quarters of people in Ireland do not trust ads on social networks

63% are sceptical about recommendations from influencers

                                    

According to 65%, it isn’t always clear when someone has been paid to promote a product

One in five people (20%) have made a purchase after seeing a brand that an influencer has posted about on social media

The last number of months have seen increased scrutiny placed on how social media influencers promote and advertise products to their base of followers. Legislative efforts have been made to provide clarity about whether or not an individual has been paid to promote a product or service.

A recently conducted nationally representative survey of 1001 people carried out by iReach has found a large degree of scepticism surrounding the activities of influencers. The research results also demonstrate how important trust is to people in Ireland when it comes to advertising and product recommendations.

An enormous 75% of respondents do not trust ads on social networks and a substantial 63% do not trust recommendations from influencers. This perhaps is not surprising, as 65% of people feel that it is not always clear when someone has been paid to promote a product.

Nonetheless, one in five (20%) have purchased a product or service after seeing a product or service that an influencer has posted about on social media.

The most trusted form of product endorsement by far are recommendations from friends and family on 89%.

When asked how they would define a social influencer, the top answer from respondents is somebody who helps promote brands, products and services (43%). Other popular definitions included someone who has 50,000 or more followers online (26%) and someone who shares information about products they love (26%).

Additionally, for 33% of respondents, influencers differ from average social media users in their online behaviour as they use more ads and promotional content when they post.

About iReach Insights

iReach Insights provides a range of research and market intelligence services in Ireland and Europe. iReach has built a Consumer Decisions Research Panel of 40,000 members in Ireland, delivering robust research insights. The survey questions were included in the Nationally Representative iReach Consumer Decisions Omnibus run between the 7th of February and the 14th of February has a 3% Confidence Interval and 95% Confidence Level.

Questions asked of participants:

How would you define a social influencer?

What makes the online behaviour of an influencer different to that of average social media users?

To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising? Recommendations from people I know/ Consumer opinions posted online/ Ads on TV/ Brand Sponsorship/ Recommendations from influencers/ Online Video Ads/ Ads on Social Networks/ Online banner ads/ Ads in Search Engine results.

Please state whether you agree or disagree with the following statements: I have purchased a product or service after seeing that product or service that an influencer had posted on social media/ It is not always clear when an influencer has been paid to promote a product/ Influencers should take more responsibility when considering the products or services that they promote/ It’s unacceptable to use filters and Photoshop when promoting products.

iReach Insights Limited – Temple Hall, Temple Road, Blackrock, CO. Dublin, IRELAND.

iReach Managing Director: Oisin Byrne
T: 01-214 3740 or email: PR@ireachhq.com