How Consumer Skepticism Is Reshaping The Way Companies Think About Product Claims

Consumer trust in companies is at a near all-time low, as most companies are acutely aware. People are increasingly skeptical of the advertisements they see, questioning claims, and they’re less likely to believe the public statements of CEOs and marketing spokespeople .

This distrust is undermining the marketing, advertising, and PR efforts of companies everywhere. In this article, we’ll explore why this phenomenon emerged in the first place, and what companies are doing to respond to this trend.

Why Consumer Skepticism Is Rampant

If you’re in business, you’ll be comforted to know that the consumer trust crisis isn’t limited to corporations; people are also increasingly skeptical of politicians and other institutions. So why is everyone so skeptical all of a sudden?

There are a few factors to consider here:

• The transparency of the internet. First, there’s the sheer power and transparency of the internet. If a company makes a claim on an advertisement, it takes all of five seconds to Google it to see if it’s true. If a company is part of a scandal, when the news breaks, millions of people will learn of it instantly. This keeps companies on their toes, and makes consumers ever-watchful of the brands they buy from.

• Advertising awareness. We also need to consider the abundance of advertising over the past several decades, and increased consumer awareness of how advertising works. People are increasingly acknowledging that they’re intentionally being manipulated by advertising, so they’re more “on guard” when it comes to company claims.

• Falsehood victimization. Modern people have also been victims of misleading information in the past—and have been made aware of that. The fake news epidemic is just one example of how consumers have been made to feel like they can’t trust anything.

It’s unlikely that the consumer trust crisis will fade away anytime soon. If you own a company or are part of a company, it’s imperative that you take more action to foster sincere consumer trust. If you’re a consumer looking to make better purchasing decisions, dig into the companies you’re buying from, and evaluate their transparency and commitment to truth.

How Innovative Companies Are Rising to the Challenge

These are just some of the key ways successful companies are adjusting their approach to compensate for consumer skepticism:

• More accurate, provable claims. First, companies are being pressured to use more accurate, provable claims in their products. For example, in the pet food industry, food manufacturers are paying increased attention to the phrases they use to describe their products. They’re switching from vague, unprovable terms like “high quality” to using specific claims that can be validated with evidence, like “clinically proven to promote alertness.” These types of claims can easily be backed up if challenged, and give consumers a heightened sense of confidence when buying—especially if they were uncertain to begin with.

• More “humanized” branding. People don’t have much trust in corporations, but they do have trust in other people. That’s why more brands are making an adjustment to have more humanized branding; they’d rather have a human face than a corporate logo in their advertising, and would rather have a vibrant personality as a spokesperson than a dull, flat brand “voice.”

• Outreach through influencers. In a similar vein, more companies are doing marketing through known influencers on social media. Rather than trying to promote their own advertising, they’re letting trusted experts within the community do the talking. For example, GoPro’s Instagram campaign relies almost entirely on content submitted by real people, and many cosmetics brands are showing off their products by giving free samples to social media celebrities. People are far more likely to trust messages from individual influencers than they are from a corporate brand.

• Content marketing. Many companies are also increasing their content marketing budgets. Traditional advertising is an outbound strategy, attempting to persuade someone to buy a product, while content marketing is an inbound strategy, giving people real, valuable information they need as a way to pull them in. Content marketing, when done right, isn’t about persuasion or manipulation; it’s about presenting facts and new information to an audience who desires them. This is a perfect way to build trust with new, skeptical consumers, and it makes all your messages seem more credible.

• Increased transparency. Finally, companies are working harder to improve their transparency. They’re publishing documents like sustainability reports that explain how they’re operating, and they aren’t afraid to make a public announcement (and apology) when something goes wrong. Using a human voice to admit fault, reveal operations, or otherwise display the inner workings of a company can instantly build trust with consumers.

If you want your brand to survive this era of distrust, you’ll need to adopt some of these measures as well.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.