Younger consumers have low trust in social media ads despite higher ad tolerance. Brands must create engaging, relevant content to build trust.
Forrester’s latest assessment of online advertising perceptions is good news for marketers, but it has some caveats. Outright aversion to ads appears to be waning, with young cohorts like Gen Z—typically the demographics that brands value most—seeing their tolerance nearly doubled in recent years. Younger consumers are more willing to pay extra to avoid ads, with 34% planning to upgrade their streaming subscriptions to ad-free tiers versus 18% of older consumers.
These trends are byproducts of how media consumption habits have shifted, with rising generations raised digitally natively and with smartphones or tablets in hand. Younger consumers spend an average of 7.3 hours a week on social media compared to 4.6 hours for older consumers, many of whom remain glued to traditional set-top boxes, according to Forrester.
TikTok, Gen Z’s app of choice, popularized the algorithmically powered For You feed, where sponsored posts can be virtually indistinguishable from organic user-generated content as users swipe away with their fingers. That’s helped acclimate users to regular ad exposure and created a larger movement where digital platforms try reinventing themselves as entertainment channels rather than just sites to share photos and posts with friends. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have adopted similar models to TikTok, which are focused on short-form videos.
Influencers and content creators drive purchasing decisions and brand preferences, and consumers, particularly Gen Z and millennials, can develop strong social attachments to them. According to Forrester, millennials who have matured into higher purchasing power are the largest audience for creator-led content. Curiosity about sponsored social content has grown broader since 2021.
Forty-five percent of online consumers think the content that brands share online is “interesting,” a sentiment held by 56% of younger and 35% of older consumers. Companies like Duolingo’s language-learning service have attracted a dedicated following due to regularly posting meme-friendly, humorous videos on TikTok. The desire for an “always-on” social strategy has become more prevalent among CMOs focused on keeping pace with pop culture. Over two-thirds of marketing decision-makers previously surveyed by Forrester indicated they plan to increase their advertising spend on paid digital media.
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A lot of those dollars may still be wasted. While 90% of consumers see ads in some form on social media, just 37% pay attention to the messages they receive. More crucially, trust in advertising is low amid concerns over scams and misinformation, with just 22% of younger and 12% of older consumers trusting social media advertising. Those figures don’t improve much for branded posts, which are trusted by 33% of young adults and 18% of older ones.
