The digital authenticity gap: What CMOs can do to build customer trust online

We all know how digital has changed the marketing industry; for most industries digital is arguably the primary channel for brand engagement. And yet, it can be hard to gauge how our customers feel about these brand experiences, especially in an age where they are increasingly reaching out to and deal with AI-designed tools.

The key emotion here, which we all care about, is the notion of trust. With automation and artificial intelligence increasingly removing the ability for a consumer to deal with another person, what does that do to the trust they feel for brands?

So, in partnership with Ipsos we set out to ask consumers globally how they judge trust across a number of key global markets. The findings in general, and specifically for the UAE’s consumers, threw up some fascinating insights for the country’s marketers.

Before I jump into the findings, let’s talk about the research design. We tracked nine signal designs using three key concepts. These were credibility – namely whether consumers believe a brand is accurate, honest and dependable – as well as relevance – whether a digital experience feels useful, appropriate, and aligned to a consumer’s needs or context – and responsibility – whether consumers believe a brand is transparent, accountable, and acting in their best interest.

We also looked at four big topics, including what builds and breaks trust, perceptions of AI and automation, differences across markets and demographics, and changes in expectations over time.

The headline findings were eye-opening, and it’s clear that marketers need to do more to bridge the trust gap for their brands when it comes to online experiences.

The study found that 89 per cent of those surveyed believe brands need to do more to improve digital authenticity, and, even more concerning, 58 per cent said they reduce or stop altogether their engagement with brands when digital experiences feel untrustworthy.

When it came to the UAE, marketers and consumers were the closest aligned when it comes to brand consistency. Digital experiences reflect the brand’s identity well, with a gap of only 9 per cent when it came to expectation versus performance.

In contrast, the largest gap was with human accountability. Almost everyone surveyed in the UAE (95 per cent) wanted a human to be on hand for support. The reality was that half don’t feel as if there is anyone who can help them if they have an issue.

As digital experiences become more automated, the absence of visible human accountability can quickly make brands feel distant or difficult to trust to consumers. They may accept automation, but they still expect human responsibility behind it.

Our team came up with four insights for marketers who care about improving the online experience for their consumers. They are:

1. Accuracy and honesty are key to consumers. They want to feel that the brand is there to help them, and information is clear and easy to understand. This matters especially in the UAE, where we found a 33 per cent gap between expectations and performance for brand intent. Marketers need to ensure product info, claims, customer-service content, and AI-assisted answers are clear and dependable.
2. Personalization boosts trust. When done right, personalisation can greatly increase trust, by making everything much more helpful. There is a watch-out here, in that when personalization is done wrong it can make the brand feel disconnected, intrusive, or careless.
3. Not all AI is the same. AI can help or hinder trust. It depends on how marketers use AI tools. It can help consumers find the information they need. Marketers should clearly state when a service is AI-enabled, thus improving trust. What we also found is that individual use cases for AI carry different expectations for transparency, accuracy, and accountability.
4. There is a “new” buyer journey. AI platforms are reshaping the online journey, by influencing how consumers discover a brand, the impression they make of and whether or not they will purchase from that brand. From the content to the landing pages and digital touchpoints, digital experiences need to be reshaped based on this new, AI-influenced buyer journey.

As our CMO has said, consumers don’t think of a brand in terms of a campaign, a channel or technology. All they see is countless interactions that can either reinforce or weaken their view of a brand.

We are going through a period of time where digital is rapidly changing, thanks to AI, and marketers need to think long and hard about how they are perceived online.

The UAE’s marketers need to ask themselves if consumers feel as if the brand is there to help them, if the information they are sharing is accurate and relevant, and if they are seen to be open and transparent. Finally, are they using AI in a way that will reinforce trust, or are their efforts eroding trust?

Digital has never been more important for our consumers, but we need to remember that on the other side of the screen is a person, not an algorithm. Customer trust in their digital experience needs to be at the top of every marketer’s to-do list, and, as our survey has shown, there’s still work we must do in this space if we are going to meet the expectations of consumers in the UAE.

By Mohammed AlThaher, Regional Vice President – MEA, Sitecore