New Klaviyo research finds only 5% of APAC shoppers fully trust AI-generated brand content, as “AI slop” emerges as the top threat to consumer loyalty.
“AI slop” — low-quality, mass-produced automated content — has emerged as one of the greatest threats to brand trust, according to a new report from B2C customer relationship management platform Klaviyo.
In the Asia-Pacific region specifically, more than half of consumers (51%) now frequently encounter low-quality, AI-driven content in their social media feeds and brand replies — raising the bar for quality and lowering tolerance for lazy automation.
Thirty percent of APAC consumers now use AI several times a week, outpacing the United States (26%) and Europe (27%) — and producing what may be the world’s most skeptical audience. Just 5% of shoppers in the region report fully trusting AI-generated brand content, significantly below their counterparts in the U.S. (12%) and Europe (16%).
That skepticism has deepened an identity crisis for brands: a majority of those same shoppers (63%) have at some point mistaken human-written content for AI-generated material.
The findings arrive as Singapore’s 2026 national budget places artificial intelligence front and center, committing more than S$1 billion to AI infrastructure, talent and adoption through 2030, alongside a new National AI Council to provide strategic direction. As public concern over deepfakes and content farms intensifies, the government’s investment underscores a growing tension between rapid AI adoption and the human-centered oversight needed to sustain consumer trust.
Despite mounting skepticism, AI usage in the purchase process remains at an all-time high. According to Klaviyo’s report, 78% of APAC shoppers have already used AI to compare brands or seek product recommendations — particularly in the electronics sector (66%). Men are 35% more likely than women to have purchased a product based on an AI recommendation.
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Marcus Rossato, head of marketing for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Klaviyo, said: “The honeymoon phase with AI is officially over for shoppers across Asia-Pacific. Although consumers in the region lead the world in AI adoption, they hold one of the highest bars for authenticity. For younger audiences and daily users, generic AI content isn’t just ineffective — it actively damages brand equity.”
He added: “What our data shows is that brands must move beyond using AI for mere efficiency and toward using it to create genuine emotional connection. The opportunity in 2026 is not to scale content faster, but to scale usefulness. In a world of automated noise, the brands that maintain a human connection will be the ones that survive the slop era.”
