Stackla Survey Finds Authenticity Drives Brand Affinity and Consumer-Created Content Influences Purchases

86 percent of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding
what brands they like and support

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Stackla, the leading user-generated content (UGC) platform, today
released a new study, titled “The
2017 Consumer Content Report: Influence in the Digital Age”. The
study examines the content being created and shared online, and what
influences consumers’ purchasing decisions most.

Stackla surveyed 2,000 adults in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, finding
that even in today’s consumerist and celebrity-centric culture,
authenticity drives brand affinity. The vast majority of consumers (86
percent) said authenticity is important when deciding what brands they
like and support. And people find consumer-created content to be the
most authentic form of content. Consumers are three times more likely to
say that content created by a consumer is authentic compared to content
created by a brand.

The report also found that brands can’t fake authentic content: on
average, adults can correctly identify if an image was created by a
professional or generated by a consumer 70 percent of the time. In fact,
the study revealed that customers will punish brands that try to fake
it, with 30 percent of Millennials saying they have unfollowed a brand
on social media because they felt their content was inauthentic.

“Today, authenticity is king. Consumers are inundated with content, and
the only way brands can cut through all that noise is with authentic
content,” said Peter Cassidy, co-founder, CMO and Chief Product Officer
at Stackla. “Since consumers see UGC as inherently authentic and
trustworthy, the best marketers among us are increasingly leveraging it
to build lasting relationships with customers, deliver relevant brand
experiences and ultimately drive revenue.”

Key Findings for Marketers:

Authenticity drives brand affinity

• 86 percent of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding
  what brands they like and support
• More than half (57 percent) of consumers think that less than half of
  brands create content that resonates as authentic

Consumers can spot professional vs. user-generated content

• On average, people are able to identify if an image was created by a
  professional or brand vs. generated by a consumer 70 percent of the
  time

User-generated content is more authentic and influential than
professional and celebrity content

• Consumers are three times more likely to say that content created by a
  consumer is authentic compared to content created by a brand
• On average, 60 percent of consumers say content from a friend or
  family member influences their purchases decisions, while just 23
  percent of consumers say content from celebrities influenced their
  purchasing decisions
• 57 percent of Millennials have made travel plans based on an image or
  video they saw a friend post on social media
• 56 percent of Millennials have decided to eat at a restaurant because
  they saw a friend post about it on social media

Massive amounts of UGC are at brands’ fingertips

• 85 percent of people (and 97 percent of Millennials) say they would
  share a positive travel experience on social media
• 76 percent of people say they would share a positive food or beverage
  experience on social media
• Nearly 52 percent of people say they post on social media at least
  once a month about products they’ve purchased

Read the full, detailed report here.

About Stackla

Stackla is the leading user-generated content (UGC) platform that puts
customer stories at the heart of brand marketing. Through predictive
intelligence and automation, Stackla helps brands identify authentic,
compelling customer content across the social web and showcase them at
scale throughout their core marketing channels – increasing engagement,
strengthening customer trust and driving sales. Trusted by more than 450
brands across travel, hospitality, CPG, retail, sports and nonprofits,
Stackla is designed to meet the content personalization needs of
enterprise-level organizations such as Disney, McDonald’s, Toyota, Sony,
Expedia, Heineken and Virgin Holidays. For more information, please
visit www.stackla.com
and follow us on Twitter at @stackla.

Contacts

Bateman Group
Elise Chambers, 415-636-5408
stackla@bateman-group.com