Mumbai, India – Lack of transparency by influencers in India in regard to their brand affiliations is a key reason why they are most likely to get distanced from by their followers, a recent report from the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has stated.
According to said data, 43% of the respondents agree that it is worth distancing themselves from the brand if they fail to disclose their brand affiliation. Other reasons include repetitive content (42%) and over-promotion of a product or service (41%).
This then leads to a high proportion of Indian consumers yearning for transparency and honesty from influencers, which was mostly agreed upon by 79% of the study participants.
Meanwhile, reasons for influencers to gain that trust would be having relatable content (57%) and injecting personal stories (53%).
Moreover, the report showed how simply being interlinked with each other renders a positive return in consumer sentiment. Around 64% of consumers felt the brand became more trustworthy when influencers endorsed it and vice versa— 58% of those surveyed thought that the influencers became more trustworthy when they endorsed the brand.
Manisha Kapoor, CEO & secretary general of ASCI, shared that they have long helped push forth the huge rate of transparency and honesty amongst influencers through its guideline implementations in 2021, where authorities from the Central Consumer Protection Authorities also now require disclosure of material connection between brands and influencers.
“Hence, non-disclosures are potential violations of the law. An important aspect of the dipstick is the revelation that non-transparency was among the prime reasons why influencers lost the trust of their followers. On the other hand, transparency in their communication significantly built trust,” she stated.
The new ASCI data comes right after a recent study made by the ad watchdog regarding top brand violators in the advertising scene, which saw personal care products drawing the most red flags.
