Half of U.S. consumers prefer to buy from brands that don’t use GenAI, according to new Gartner research.
The research and advisory firm polled 1,539 U.S. consumers last year, and found that 50% of consumers would rather give their business to brands that don’t incorporate GenAI in consumer-facing messages, advertising and content.
And the data feeds into a larger picture of information distrust.
The research found that consumers are increasingly questioning whether the information they use to make decisions is reliable (61%), and wonder whether the content and information they see is even real (68%).
This correlates with recent research on AI models’ reliability.
AI chatbots and misinformation
Yale research has revealed that AI chatbots can still resemble “sophisticated misinformation machines,” while MIT research recently showed that AI chatbots can provide “less-accurate and less-truthful” responses to vulnerable users.
At the same time, we’re seeing a proliferation of bots spamming the web, including on sites like Reddit, an online discussion platform that’s quickly rising up the ranks and a place where brands are flocking in hopes of increasing the likelihood of their ads appearing in GenAI chatbot responses.
Against this backdrop, Emily Weiss, Senior Principal Analyst in the Gartner Marketing Practice, said marketers should treat GenAI as a “trust decision” as much as a “technology decision.”
According to Weiss, the brands that win will be the ones that use AI in ways customers can immediately recognise as helpful, while being transparent about its use, what it’s doing, and giving customers “a clear choice to opt out.”
And some are opting out entirely. Malwarebytes Labs gathered 1,200 responses from polling its newsletter readers, and found that 43% have “stopped using ChatGPT” and 42% have “stopped using Gemini.”
Marketers opt for AI-assisted ad angles and messaging
So, as consumers pull back, how are marketers using AI?
A recent Foxwell Founders report revealed that for those using AI for research and creative ideation, 67.7% were doing so for generating ad angles and messaging variations, while 64.6% used it for brainstorming new campaign ideas (64.6%).
But, when characterising the performance of AI-generated ads in their accounts, agencies most commonly reported that they saw “mixed or inconsistent” results, while 21.3% were not using AI-generated ads at all.
Ultimately, Weiss notes that when using GenAI, in order to reduce risk and build trust, marketers should label AI-driven experiences, so people understand when and how AI is being used.
“Marketers should also make verification easy by backing claims with clear proof points and governance, because consumers are increasingly sceptical about what they see and hear,” added Weiss.
