Consumers trust personal taste over influencers, study finds

2026-10-23

Consumers in the US and UK are becoming increasingly skeptical of influencer marketing, according to a report from TBWA's Backslash. The report shows that 62% of respondents aspire to be "uninfluenced" and believe that personal taste is more valuable than online popularity. This shift is challenging brands to build trust through authenticity rather than mass visibility. "People still want to discover. They just want to feel like they arrived at it on their own," says Backslash's Cecelia Girr.

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