Just one in 10 people trust information provided by online influencers, but despite widespread distrust of influencers generally internet and social media users do appear to trust the influencers they follow themselves.

Research from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission found that consumers are reluctant to use the word influencers in reference to the personalities they follow on social media platforms, preferring instead to use terms such as 'interactive celebrities' and 'people of interest'. 

CCPC suggested that consumers' unwillingness to consider such terms interchangeable indicated that they may be overconfident in their ability to recognise influencer advertising, leaving them vulnerable to misleading practices.

Indeed, failure to label adverts is widespread throughout the industry, with almost half of influencer advertising (48%) going untagged.

Many consumers who bought products and services as a result of influencer promotions said they felt misled in their purchases, but consumers said they can be reluctant to report issues to regulatory authorities and instead unfollow such influencers.

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Consumers raised specific concerns around influencers promoting cryptocurrencies and other financial products, particularly when the influencer had no experience in these areas.

Consumers and influencers interviewed for the research agreed that clear guidance would be beneficial for everyone, particularly for more vulnerable social media users such as children and teenagers.

This research also suggests that requiring influencers to use a small number of tags, such as #advertisement, #AD and #PaidPartnership, would reduce inconsistencies in labelling methods amongst influencers, particularly for when influencers promote their own brands.

"This research shows that influencer marketing is constantly evolving and as such influencers and consumers alike need clarification in relation to the labelling of social media advertisements," said CCPC's Kevin O'Brien

"Platforms and brands must take greater responsibility for educating and informing their users and consumers, and must support influencers in clearly and consistently labelling paid content. We will monitor social media platforms for progress in this area.

"It’s crucial that platforms, brands, influencers and agents understand their responsibilities and abide by the law. We will also work with the ASAI to develop guidance which will provide greater clarity in relation to responsibilities and requirements.”

Orla Twomey, CEO of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland, said: "Influencer marketing has accelerated exponentially in more recent years, having originally developed in a more organic and unstructured way in the domestic market.

"The need for transparency and clarity from influencers regarding social media advertisements is greater than ever and plays an essential part in increasing consumers’ trust in advertising they are seeing and hearing.

"Consequently, and notwithstanding the levels of required disclosure by influencers, it is concerning to learn from this survey that the level of trust that consumers have in information they receive from influencers is as low as 10%."

She added: "The research reveals that while there is a need for more consistency in transparency from influencers with regard to labelling their sponsored content clearly and correctly, there is also demand for more guidance and education for both consumers and influencers alike in this space."

(Pic: Getty Images)