Survey: Here's how consumers view monetized product recommendations
A large number of consumers are growing skeptical of monetized product recommendations – even coming from family and friends.
Nearly half (45%) of adults are less likely to trust a personal recommendation from someone who frequently monetizes products, links or content, even when no commercial relationship was disclosed in that specific recommendation, according to a new survey from background verification tool ClarityCheck.
A third (34%) of those surveyed said learning that someone they knew personally regularly earned money from recommendations had changed how they interpreted that person’s future suggestions.
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Twenty-nine percent of respondents said in the past, they had discovered only after acting on a product recommendation that the person making it had received money, free products, referral credit or another benefit connected to it. However, 31% said they had assumed a recommendation was financially motivated, and later learned that the person had no financial connection to what they were recommending.
“A profitable recommendation can still be sincere,” noted ClarityCheck. “The difficulty lies in judging what produced the recommendation and how much the possibility of earning from it shaped the enthusiasm behind it. That distinction is rarely visible to the audience.”
Additional insights from the survey include the following:
- A large number (41%) of consumers said they no longer take phrases such as “I love this,” “you need this” or “this changed everything” entirely at face value when they come from people who frequently post recommendations.
- Nearly half (47%) said they were more likely to trust someone’s positive recommendation if that person also regularly criticized products, admitted disappointment or explained why something was not worth buying.
- A quarter (26%) said they had asked a friend, acquaintance or creator whether they had been paid, given something for free or offered a referral benefit before deciding whether to follow a recommendation.
For its report, ClarityCheck surveyed 10,700 adults across the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Latin America who regularly encounter product, service or lifestyle recommendations online.
