An incredible 45 percent of marketers want to have complete control over influencer marketing content, despite most saying they trust influencers to do the job, according to Takumi.

The influencer marketing platform commissioned Censuswide and Civey to poll over 4,000 consumers, marketers, and influencers across the UK, US, and Germany. It found that though 86 per cent of 750 marketers surveyed say they trust influencers, 39 per cent of US and UK marketers – and 55 per cent of German marketers – want complete control over the caption and visual of an influencer’s post.

The attitudes of certain marketers could cause problems for them when looking to work with influencers as creators value creative control, the potential for a long-term partnership, and a clear brief most when working with brands. As such, 46 per cent of the 342 Instagram influencers surveyed said they trusted brands to work with them fairly.

Amongst the over 2,000 consumers surveyed, 34 per cent credit influencers with purchases they have mad in the past six months – rising to 91 per cent in the 16 to 24-year-old age bracket in the UK and US. Equally, almost a fifth of consumers trust influencer recommendations more than their friends – though other recent research has shown that recommendations from friends are still the most important factor.

Nonetheless, consumers lose trust easily. And their top reasons for unfollowing influencers are disingenuous endorsements (72 per cent), promotion of unrealistic or unsuitable lifestyle or body images (69 per cent), misrepresentation of lifestyle or character (69 per cent), and discovering the purchase of fake followers (68 per cent).

37 per cent of consumers also trust influencers to clearly mark their paid partnerships. However, somewhat surprisingly, 62 per cent of influencers say they been pressured by brands to breach guidelines at least once. This is in spite of 88 per cent of marketers and 87 per cent of influencers in the UK and US agreeing regulatory guidelines are clear in their markets – though this figure falls to 52 per cent of marketers and 11 per cent of influences in Germany, showing the need for improvement there

“Over the course of 2019, the influencer marketing industry has come under increasing scrutiny, and trust among consumers, brands and influencers across the world is being put to the test,” said Adam Williams, Takumi CEO.

“Influencers continue to directly inform consumer purchasing behaviour, but consumers are increasingly savvy. Through this research, consumers have made it clear what wins their trust, and what they value; transparency, authenticity, honesty.

“Marketers must take a proactive and responsible role in educating about and enforcing correctly labelled ads. Developing and upholding regulations is a shared responsibility.

“This will require good communication with influencers, many of whom are struggling with opaque briefs. Influencers are asking for greater clarity but also want creative licence and the partnerships that can successfully achieve this will be the real winners.”