Ireland's advertising watchdog is to employ artificial intelligence to evaluate the activity of social media influencers to assess if they are disclosing content correctly.

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) will employ AI after finding that a lack of authenticity, edited photos, too many paid adverts, and influencers misrepresenting their lives are the most annoying traits to Irish consumers.

A survey of 1,000 people representative of the Irish adult population, carried out by Amárach Research in November, found two-thirds (67%) are familiar with the practice of influencer marketing, rising to 75% among people aged under 35.

Seven in 10 (71%) believe that when an influencer posts an ad, they are being paid by the brand to post positive content, which is slightly down from 80% in 2021.

While 84% of consumers use social media apps frequently and almost 40% of those use social media for tips or inspiration consumer confidence in what they’re seeing online is still extremely low, with just one in 10 consumers having trust in influencers’ posts.

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Over 62% believe that influencers post too much sponsored content, and the research indicated a severe lack of trust between influencers and consumers.

Some of the top traits people find most ‘annoying’ from influencers according to the ASAI research include edited photos (67%) and influencers who do not come across as authentic (63%).

Almost 60% of Irish consumers (56%) trust brand advertisements more than social posts by influencers, and over half (51%) of people in Ireland say they are concerned by the lack of transparency in influencer marketing.

The research also provides insight into public understanding of the use of hashtags and labelling online advertising, with 55%  able to reference various hashtags or phrases used to identify influencer advertising content – down 11% since last year.

Among the most frequently recognised were #sponsored (61%), #ad (55%) and #paidpartnership (46%).

However, 59% of people confirmed they didn’t recognise #sp and 54% didn’t recognise the hashtag #iworkwith. 71% of people were aware that when an influencer posts an affiliate link that they are being paid by the brand being linked.

“As we can see from this research over half those surveyed remain bothered by both the lack of transparency in influencer marketing and not being able to distinguish content from advertising, which echoes similar results to the Social Media Influencer Report released by the CCPC last December," said Orla Twomey, CEO of the ASAI. 

"Both the ASAI research and the CCPC report show that there is a need for more transparency from influencers with regard to labelling their sponsored content clearly and correctly, as well as more guidance and education for both consumers and influencers alike in this space.

"To help with this we are planning to continue implementing the use of AI tools and working with the [Competition and Consumer Protection Commission] to develop further guidance.”

Kevin O’Brien, member of the CCPC, said: “Similar to our own research, published late last year, the ASAI’s research reinforces that 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 so that consumers are not misled."

(Pic: Getty Images)