Influencer Trust Index Consumer Insights 2025 (BBB National Programs)

Summary:

This report looks at how U.S. consumers view influencer marketing — trust, disclosure, and honesty — and whether an NAD-backed influencer certification could boost trust.

Published by BBB National Programs via the National Advertising Division (NAD) and surveyed by The Benchmarking Company, it aims to gauge demand for more transparency and the potential value of certification.

Method: a 26-question survey of 3,720+ U.S. consumers ages 18–65, fielded over three days in Feb 2025. The sample skewed heavily female (3,484 women; 235 men; 5 non-binary). Questions covered influencer trust, disclosure expectations, who people follow, and social media use.

Key findings:
• 58% have bought something due to an influencer; of those, 35% made 4–6 such purchases.
• Over half watch influencer content that shows up in their feeds; ~1/3 actively seek it out to learn about products/topics.
• Influencers are trusted less than advertising overall: 87% trust advertising at least somewhat vs. 74% for influencer ads; 26% don’t trust influencers.
• Trust is driven by transparency about brand ties and honest reviews (even negative). Biggest trust-breakers: seeming fake/dishonest, promoting unrealistic lifestyles/body image, and not disclosing relationships.
• 70% feel negative when paid/free product isn’t disclosed. Partnerships alone usually don’t reduce trust, and #ad/#sponsored generally don’t increase it. Most say both brands and influencers share responsibility for truthful, transparent ads.

Limitations: short self-report survey (attitudes vs. behavior), heavily female sample, and a publisher with a clear pro-compliance stake.