Influencers can make or break a brand. Every beauty brand wants to cultivate its own community, and to do so often requires tapping influencers to leverage their existing communities. An influencer’s most valuable asset isn’t the number of followers they have but rather the trust of their audience. Without trust, their recommendations carry little weight.
The influencer marketing industry is thriving and expected to grow significantly in the coming years. In 2024, 82.7% of US marketers used influencers in their campaigns, contributing to a domestic market valuation of $24 billion. As influencer marketing continues to grow, so do consumer concerns about misleading or questionable practices on both sides of the brand-influencer equation.
To better understand the current state of consumer trust in influencer marketing, the Independent Beauty Association collaborated with BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD) and The Benchmarking Company to release The Influencer Trust Index: Consumer Insights 2025. The report examines consumer behaviors, concerns, and expectations in today’s increasingly saturated and scrutinized digital landscape.
Consumer Trust in Influencers Is Waning
Based on a survey of more than 3,700 US consumers, the findings reveal a striking paradox: while engagement with influencers remains high, consumer trust is on the decline. Key issues include insufficient disclosure and a widespread lack of understanding around advertising guidelines—concerns that have triggered increased scrutiny from regulators, NAD, and, increasingly, plaintiffs’ attorneys.
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides were revised in 2023 and outline in detail how influencers and brands must disclose endorsements, sponsorships, and partnerships with other brands and companies. However, influencers and brands may or may not be aware of these updates, which cover the types of posts that fall under the FTC Guides. This oversight can be a costly mistake: FTC influencer violation fines can cost up to $53,088 per violation, according to the Federal Register. These penalties apply to both brands and the agencies responsible for influencer marketing campaigns.
“We hear from our clients all the time that they really don't understand the rules with influencers,” Jennifer Stansbury, co-founder of The Benchmarking Company, told BeautyMatter. “It's not that they have an intent to do things incorrectly, but they just don't know what they don't know.”
This research aimed to assess the demand for increased transparency in influencer marketing and determine if a formal, NAD-backed certification for influencers would enhance consumer trust and support truth in advertising.
The survey investigated consumer trust in influencers, expectations regarding the disclosure of material connections, the types of influencers consumers follow, and daily social media engagement.
Unsurprisingly, the survey revealed that consumers are turning to influencer marketing to guide their purchasing decisions.
Consumer Engagement with Influencer Marketing
Consumers may watch influencer content, but do they trust it? Not necessarily. The survey found that consumers trust influencers less than general advertising, a concerning trend given the rapid growth of influencer brand deals. This lack of trust may stem from questionable practices within the industry, partly due to limited regulation and frequent noncompliance with FTC advertising laws.
Consumer Perspectives on Advertising
When looking specifically at influencers, 74% of consumers trust influencer advertising, with only 5% trusting influencers completely and 69% trusting influencers somewhat. The level of distrust in influencers is higher than that of regular advertising, with 26% of consumers indicating they “don’t trust” influencers.
“We hear a lot about the authenticity of influencers being very important to consumers, and I think that this [survey] really showed that authenticity and transparency are fairly equal in a consumer's mind,” NAD attorney Jennifer Santos told BeautyMatter. “Transparency is just as important to consumers as authenticity.”
What Drives Consumers to Trust (or Distrust) Influencers?
Consumers cited an influencer’s transparency and honesty about the product and their brand association as the primary drivers for trust. Trust in influencers primarily stems from honest reviews, even if it isn’t positive about the product/service they are reviewing (79%). Transparency and honesty regarding products and brand affiliations also help increase their trust in influencers (71%).
Conversely, the primary drivers of distrust are:
Consumers react negatively when influencers fail to disclose paid partnerships or free products, with 37% feeling "deceived" and 33% feeling generally "negative towards the influencer." Interestingly, the existence of a brand partnership itself does not diminish trustworthiness. At the same time, #ad or #sponsored disclosures do not lead to a feeling of the influencer being more trustworthy.
To enhance consumer trust in influencer marketing, it’s important that influencers are educated on best practices for truthful, transparent advertising—both for their sake and the success of any brand partnerships.
Building Consumer Trust Through Influencer Certification
So, how can influencers and brands increase consumer trust? According to Santos, improving influencer transparency practices through education and training could elevate consumer trust while simultaneously raising the bar for influencer advertising practices across the industry.
“The current idea is to establish a certification program for individual content creators and influencers,” she explained. “Brands could then choose to support the initiative by prioritizing partnerships with certified influencers.”
Similar programs already exist in countries like France and the Netherlands, and the European Advertising Standards Alliance has issued guidance on how to structure and oversee these types of initiatives, which Santos said the NAD would use as a model for its own influencer certification program.
“There is growing global momentum to boost trust in influencer marketing by ensuring creators understand and follow the rules,” she added. “Given the recent wave of class action lawsuits in the US, the timing feels right for a certification and training program like this.”
Disclosure of brand partnerships and relationships is a key focus of the program. The NAD is also considering developing different tracks or modules for specific types of influencers, like those who create financial content or content geared toward children. In the US, there has been an increasing concern around content aimed at teens, as well as content created by teen influencers. Brands are expressing interest in clearer guidance in this area, according to Santos. While the specific modules haven’t been fully mapped out yet, there’s recognition that different types of influencers—based on their niche or audience—may require specialized training to ensure they understand the unique responsibilities and compliance needs within their space.
The NAD is optimistic that an influencer certification program could boost confidence among both consumers and brands.
“Because brands want to work with influencers that know the rules, because it helps mitigate their risk,” Santos shared. “For influencers, it can help make them more marketable [to brands].”
The program is also expected to function as a community resource hub for certified creators, where influencers can exchange feedback, navigate challenges, and discuss emerging trends. The goal is for the program to be comprehensive, offering not just training and certification, but also ongoing support to help influencers grow their platforms and “influence responsibly,” per Santos.
The influencer certification program is currently in the early stages of development under the NAD’s Center for Industry Self-Regulation. To monitor the progression of influencer trust, the NAD plans to continue publishing The Influencer Trust Index: Consumer Insights annually, in partnership with The Benchmarking Company.
