Survey: Gen Z consumers trust Instagram influencers

Gen Z consumers show particular interest in Instagram when it comes to social media influencer content.

According to a new survey of 1,100 U.S. adults by text communications platform SlickText, Gen Z respondents age 16-24 said Instagram has the most genuine influencers. Gen Z respondents (32%) were almost twice as likely than respondents age 25 and up (17%) to cite Instagram influencers as the most genuine.

Among Gen Z respondents, TikTok (28%), Facebook (11%), and Twitter (5%) influencers followed. All other respondents ranked influencers on Facebook (32%), Instagram (17%), Twitter (9%), and TikTok (6%) as most genuine.

One in two respondents said they rely on reviews when shopping online. And a leading 38% of all respondents indicated online reviews are the influencer content they find most helpful. This preference held true for every age group except Gen Z women. For Gen Z women, 23% said how-to’s are most valuable, followed by motivational posts. And while 34% of overall respondents said the best way to win their trust is with unbiased reviews, Gen Z women differed, with 40% saying the best way to win their trust is by interacting with followers.

Among all respondents, the number one factor eroding trust in an influencer is too many sponsored posts (31%), followed by politicized content (18%), using stereotypical influencer phrases (14%), and having photos that look too edited (14%).

Respondents in different age brackets showed varying preferences in how they prefer to hear from influencers besides social media. Among respondents 16-24, 45% prefer text messages, while 44% prefer blog posts and 34% prefer email. Respondents 25-34 are most likely to favor blog posts (47%), followed by email (45%) and text messages (32%). Respondents 35 and up most like email (49%), followed by a virtual tie between blog posts (37%) and text messages (36%).

The survey also asked respondents how often they want to hear from influencers. Overall, they prefer to hear from them several times per day (30%), followed by once per day (19%), several times per week (18%), and once per week (14%).