Brands on Trial: How We Build Trust in the Digital Environment
Visibility is no longer enough - trust is the new currency.
Brands on Trial: How We Build Trust in the Digital Environment
Visibility is no longer enough – trust is the new currency.
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3 min to read
Written by:
Dialog communications
In an age where information is available in seconds, the question is no longer how to reach an audience, but how to become a trusted source. The latest Vox Populi survey among our followers on social media shows how users discover brands today, how much they trust the communication they see, and what actually influences their purchasing decisions.
The Paradox of Visibility and Trust
Social media plays a dominant role in brand discovery (78%), while word of mouth (17%) and traditional media (6%) lag significantly behind, and AI is not yet a factor. At the same time, a high level of information and visibility on social media does not necessarily imply trust.
Our followers perceive TV as the most reliable medium (50%), followed by online news portals (30%), and only then social media (20%). No respondents gave preference to influencers or content creators.
Online ads provoke mixed reactions. Half of the survey participants trust them only sometimes, while slightly fewer (39%) rarely or never consider them credible. A similar pattern is visible with influencers: nearly half of respondents (45%) do not trust them at all.
At the same time, brand reputation remains an important factor before purchase. As many as 38% of respondents say it is very important to them, while 56% say it is at least somewhat important. This confirms that decisions are increasingly made less impulsively and more often after prior research.
Trust Is Built Through User Experience and Transparency
As many as 80% of responses in the Instagram survey cite reviews as the key element in building trust in a brand. On LinkedIn, transparency is emphasized much more strongly alongside reviews (34% compared with 10% on Instagram). The results suggest that a professional audience on LinkedIn places additional value on openness and clarity in brand communication. Sponsored content does not go unnoticed either. Nearly half of survey participants (44%) react to it with suspicion, highlighting the need for a more authentic communication approach.
How Audiences Want to Communicate with Brands
When it comes to communication channels and how our followers want to receive brand updates, the differences between platforms become even more pronounced. On Instagram, alongside brands’ social profiles (47%), newsletters (24%) and content from creators or media outlets (24%) are still preferred, while ads rank last (5%). The LinkedIn audience shows a much clearer pattern – 100% of respondents prefer receiving information directly through brand profiles.
Regardless of channel, the main motivation for following brands remains the same: inspirational content (64%), while discounts, education, and social responsibility are secondary. Interestingly, nearly one-third of respondents never provide feedback or comment on brand content and communication, which can partly be seen as significant room for improvement in content and communication, especially in the social media environment.
Transparency Is the Standard
The most consistent result of the research concerns the importance of transparency. As many as 86% of respondents consider it very important.
Combined with the high level of skepticism toward ads and influencers, the results confirm that trust cannot be bought through visibility – it is built through experience, consistency, and clarity of message.
