More than half of consumers say they have low trust in sponsored and influencer social media ads, yet 40% say they have made in-social-app purchases

Customer experience (CX) platform DISQO released new insights about how social media marketing is falling short in building trust with consumers, yet is still driving in-app purchases, in its report, “Social Media Shopping.” With nearly 80% of consumers using social media daily, DISQO’s findings underscore the massive opportunity to drive lower funnel outcomes on social media.

“With the 2024 holiday shopping season entering full force, brands need effective strategies to harness social media’s diverse audiences and undeniable engagement power,” said David Grabert, VP of Brand & Communications, DISQO. “We’re not just talking about digital natives, like Gen Z, but also older generations who are now also buying within social media. Brands should use this season to test bespoke social content for different cohorts and platforms while also considering the overriding impact of customer experience over influencer marketing.”

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Key insights about social media usage and ecommerce activity in DISQO’s new report:

• CX factors are most influential in driving in-app purchase decisions. Consumers report product reviews (28%), discounts (24%), and trustworthiness of sellers (22%) as the top considerations in social media sales. Counter-intuitively, influencer recommendations were the least impactful across generations, with only 2% stating they drive purchase decisions.

• Consumer trust in social media ads is currently very low. Only 5% of consumers said they have even moderate trust in any kind of social media ads. Sponsored posts saw higher trust than influencer posts, but there was relatively low difference (6 points) between the two. Over a quarter of consumers have “OK” trust in both formats. Brands have an opportunity to win over these consumers by engaging with content that emphasizes positive reviews and promotions, which respondents said were more likely to drive them to purchase actions.

• Conventional assumptions about age and social media shopping usage are antiquated. More Millennial and GenX consumers, 45% and 39% respectively, reported shopping in-app ecommerce activity on social media than GenZers (37%). And when it comes to shopping in-app, most generational cohorts were less than a 10-point difference from the general population (40%), suggesting a strong opportunity to reach consumers across generations.

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