The research discusses consumer trust in brands in relation to four themes; technology, content, data, and e-commerce. The findings show that while European and United States consumers’ trust in brands is being undermined by the poor deployment of advertising and content, consumers in countries across Asia and Africa, in contrast, appear to be embracing brand content and messaging.

The findings also show that many consumers are choosing privacy over convenience, preferring a greater say in decisions that impact them, even if that means compromising on speed or ease.

Forty-three percent of Internet-active consumers globally object to connected devices monitoring their activities, even it makes their lives easier. South Africa is more in line with emerging markets where fewer consumers, though still a significant minority (34%), object to their lives being monitored by connected devices.

The research also reveals that mistrust is prevalent in many markets, but that it is not universal. While just nine percent of Swedish consumers consider the content they see on social media reliable, in Indonesia 61% of consumers trust the information they consume on social media, and 38% of connected South Africans considering social media content to be reliable.

Trust in large global brands varies significantly between emerging and developed markets. In China and Nigeria, more than half of consumers (57% and 54% respectively) trust big global brands, but consumer trust falls significantly in developed markets like the US and France, where just 21% and 15% trust big global brands. South Africa falls in the middle of these extremes, with 36% trusting big global brands.

Michael Nicholas, global lead of Connected Solutions, Kantar TNS, says, "We are now living in a connected, post-truth world where the default for many consumers is suspicion, not acceptance."

Nicholas adds, "In developed countries, the connection that brands have strived to have with consumers – whether reaching them through new technologies, sharing brand content, targeting them based on their personal data, or widening the scope of e-commerce – appears to be eroding trust, not building it."

Karin Du Chenne, CEO insights at Kantar South Africa, adds, "We see an increasing divide between how consumers in developed and emerging markets experience connectivity. For people in South Africa, we are still largely excited by the benefits and information we get from brands in social media and the web. Most South Africans experience connectivity via their mobile phones, making it a more personal experience."

Trust in technology

The evolution of technology is enabling brands to develop better service experiences. Poor deployment or a failure to meet basic needs can erode consumers’ trust and confidence in brands. This year’s findings showed connected consumers are polarised in their acceptance of artificial intelligence.

More than a third (39%) of consumers globally are willing to interact with a machine (such as a chatbot) if their query is dealt with more quickly – this falls slightly in South Africa to 36%, though consumers in emerging markets are more accepting (43%) of interacting with machines if it results in their query being dealt with more quickly.

This has huge implications for the pace at which companies automate customer functions, as well as the moments at which they do so. This year’s findings also showed that while advances in technology aim to make consumers’ lives simpler and easier, people feel increasingly distracted and harassed by it. One third (34%) of 16 to 24-year-olds globally, 37% in South Africa, think they use their mobile phones too much.

Trust in content

Many brands rely on social media platforms to reach consumers quickly and easily. However, research shows that content on those channels is increasingly discredited and distrusted by consumers, with fake news and self-serving information impacting their confidence in what they’re reading.

Nearly a third (32%) of consumers globally and 31% in South Africa find the content brands post on social media channels irrelevant. Furthermore, there is a high and growing level of distrust in social media platforms, with half (50%) of North American and French consumers expressing concern about social networks’ control of what users see in their feeds.

Yet those findings contrast sharply with developing Asian markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, in which just eight percent and 12%, respectively, expressed concern. Thirty-one percent of South Africans say they are concerned about social networks’ control of what users see in their feeds.

Trust in data

When it comes to data, 40% of global respondents expressed concern about the amount of personal data that companies have on them, but it was especially high in some markets; almost three-quarters (72%) of Polish consumers are concerned – more than any other nation – and the majority of consumers in the United States (60%) and South Korea (59%) share that view.

However, concerns are much lower in other markets, including Nigeria (32%), China (30%), and Indonesia (22%), where consumers have more transactional expectations from brands (for example, rewards in exchange for data). South Africa at 39% is ahead of other developing markets in this concern.

Trust in e-commerce

There has been a large increase in brands offering social commerce options to consumers, whether mobile shopping services or the ability to purchase through social media platforms. New technologies such as ‘buy buttons’ and mobile payments are making e-commerce more frictionless, but many consumers are failing to see the benefits.

While 64% of consumers in China would prefer to pay for everything using their mobile, consumers in developed Western markets are much less likely to embrace mobile payments; 57% of consumers in France and Germany, and 54% in the United States don’t want to pay for anything with their mobile.

Forty percent of South Africans don’t want to, but there is also not huge acceptance yet – 31% would prefer to pay for everything using their mobile, compared with 39% globally.

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