Trust fuels purchasing power

In an age of noise, fuelled by social media platforms and messaging apps, it was reassuring to hear Gyles Brandreth reverting to the power of good old word of mouth. He spoke at a local church as part of the Barnes Book Fest about his journey as an author. He was, of course, encouraging us to buy, read and talk about the books, highlighting the effect on sales when we recommend them personally.

To me, word of mouth is a referral from a friend or colleague; however, this mature concept led to curiosity about current-day trends and, from a business perspective, how do we cover all bases and where does the trust element sit?

Is the opinion of an influencer perceived to be word of mouth?

On trust, Nielsen’s 2021 global Trust in Advertising Study, which surveyed 40,000 people across 56 countries, found 88% of consumers trusted recommendations from people they know above all other forms of marketing messaging. However, it is unclear on the generational breakdown of the participants.

Ofcom’s 2025 Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes report found younger adults were more likely to trust results when searching on social media. More revealing is how the ages differ at spotting influencer marketing: in Ofcom’s testing, over-65s were more likely to identify it correctly than younger groups: 92% versus 70% of 25-34s. Older people recognise an influencer post as advertising, so they do not treat it as word of mouth. Younger people are more likely to miss the commercial element, and that, I believe, is when an influencer starts to feel like a friend’s recommendation.

The last piece of the generational research I found, admittedly from the US, was a survey by Clutch, a Washington DC platform, which found that Gen Z are the only generation that did not put friends and family clearly ahead of influencers; every other generation did.

However, these were fashion and gaming-centric purchases.

Back to the trust element, in 2020, Which? ran a controlled experiment with 10,000 consumers: 10.5% chose a product with no fake reviews, but that rose to 23.1% for an identical product shown with faked comments and inflated scores, from which I gleaned that we still believe what we read without checking the authenticity of the source. This is becoming dangerous in a world of altered feedback and dubious rating schemes. Has the fake reviews ban in April 2025 made a difference?

So many variables are at play, which emphasises the business case for knowing your target markets and who they listen to and trust.

A parasocial relationship

A new one for me, despite the term being around since the 50s, originally coined for the intimacy effect of broadcasters and radio DJs. It describes the one-sided sense of familiarity people feel with someone they watch or listen to regularly but have never met. It is the best explanation for why an influencer can feel like word of mouth; they become intimate. This concept is acceptable with the likes of fashion and makeup; however, when it comes to health and finances, it can get a little scary, and the word ‘scam’ comes to mind, maybe because I have been a victim.

What influences your purchasing decisions, and why?

Back to Gyles, I was obviously persuaded to buy his first book, which I immediately got stuck into, and yes, I can recommend it if light mystery murders are your thing and definitely if you are interested in getting to know Oscar Wilde, who, positioned as the detective in this series, is captivating.

Sources: Nielsen. Ofcom. Clutch.

Key takeaways

• Nielsen’s 2021 global Trust in Advertising Study found 88% of consumers trusted recommendations from people they know above all other forms of marketing – but the generational breakdown was unclear.
• Ofcom’s 2025 research found over-65s were more likely to correctly identify influencer marketing as advertising (92%) than 25-34s (70%), suggesting younger audiences are more susceptible to parasocial trust.
• Gen Z is the only generation that does not put friends and family clearly ahead of influencers when making purchasing decisions, according to Clutch research – though this was focused on fashion and gaming.
• A 2020 Which? experiment found that fake reviews raised product selection from 10.5% to 23.1% for identical products, highlighting how easily consumers trust unverified sources.
• A parasocial relationship – the one-sided sense of familiarity people feel with someone they watch or listen to regularly but have never met – explains why influencers can feel like word-of-mouth recommendations.

The post Trust fuels purchasing power appeared first on Elite Business Magazine.