AI transparency, ecommerce tactics, digital advertising: 5 interesting stats to start the week

Vast majority of consumers believe generative AI use should be made clear

Almost nine in 10 (86%) British consumers think that explicitly stating when generative AI has been used is important, with one quarter (25%) describing themselves as feeling “concerned” about the increasing role of AI in daily lives.

As well as being concerned, consumers are also feeling cautious (22%) and uneasy (15%) – the three most popular feelings among consumers about the prospect of the growing role of gen AI over the next decade. A further 9% describe themselves as sceptical, and 7% say they feel indifferent. Only just over one in 10 consumers describe themselves as either optimistic (9%) or excited (4%).

Misgivings over the increasing role of AI in our lives is particularly prevalent among older generations, with over half of baby boomers (those born before 1964) describing themselves as either concerned (31%) or cautious (27%) about its future use.

There are particular concerns about the use of AI in the media, with two thirds (65%) of all British consumers concerned about misinformation or deepfakes produced by generative AI. Again, this concern is more acute among older consumers, with 74% of baby boomers worried about this.

Source: YouGov

Shoppers feel ‘manipulated’ by ecommerce tactics

Almost two-thirds (63%) of shoppers feel “manipulated” by ecommerce tactics, finds a survey of 2,000 consumers.

Brands could be inadvertently alienating their consumers through their ecommerce experience, the research suggests. Almost half (46%) of shoppers say they feel “overwhelmed” on ecommerce sites.

One area of friction is website pop-ups, with one in five shoppers saying early pop-ups make them leave sites; however, four in five ecommerce destinations trigger pop-ups within 30 seconds.

Retailers could also be losing out through discounting. Over four in five (83%) shoppers say they use discount codes even when they would have bought at full price, but 38% of email capture pop-ups give discounts away automatically.

Source: Made With Intent

UK digital advertising investment now exceeds £38bn

The UK’s digital advertising investment is up 9.4% year over year, reaching £38.07bn. Digital now makes up over 80% of the total ad spend in the UK.

The study shows that annual social media advertising spend is now £9.02bn, which is an increase of 13.8% year over year. Investment in influencer marketing also increased by 13.6% to reach £930m. Almost one in five (17%) social media users over 16 now follow influencers, the research finds.

While advertising investment in digital and social channels remains on the up, the data suggests that consumers are actually spending less time online, time spent on the internet and social media has fallen year on year, by 7.1% and 11%, respectively.

In terms of the ad reach of social channels, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram all saw strong growth in the UK. However, X (formerly known as Twitter) saw a 10.7% ad reach decline year over year.

Source: We Are Social and Meltwater

International markets growing in importance for businesses

Over two thirds (69%) of mid-market enterprises (MMEs) predict their international earnings will eclipse domestic earnings by 2030, according to figures from HSBC.

Mid-market enterprises are defined as those with revenue between $18m and $5bn. MMEs are the world’s fastest growing company segment.

Currently, almost three in four (71%) of those companies say that most of their income comes from their own domestic market. While that might seem like a high proportion yet to fully tap into international markets, this represents a decrease from five years ago, when that figure was 86%.

Mid-market enterprise decision makers see potential for growth (85%), leveraging economies of scale (64%) and diversification (60%) through international expansion. Almost all (96%) of these decision-makers agree that international expansion is at least moderately important for their company’s future.

In terms of judging the success of an international expansion, revenue (19%) is the highest ranked metric to determine success, followed by speed or growth (13%). Two-fifths (42%) believe a market expansion can be deemed a success (or indeed a failure) after one to two years, while 35% believe companies should wait three to four years to make that determination.

Brand recognition (or lack thereof) is one of the most frequently cited barriers to success, with 31% citing this as a challenge. Competition (36%) and market knowledge (34%) are other commonly cited barriers.

Source: HSBC

Most media industry professionals fear for job security amid rise of AI

Around three quarters (74%) of media industry workers say they are moderately to extremely concerned about their personal job security in the next five years.

This comes amid rising use of AI in the advertising and marketing industries. The biggest concerns among people who work in the advertising industry is overdependency on AI, followed by ethical concerns (both at 33%).

In the media industry as a whole, maintaining human oversight was seen as the biggest potential pitfall with regards to AI.

When it comes to regulating the nascent technology, advertising workers want guidelines established by a dedicated AI ethics committee (25%) over senior management (17%) or external regulatory bodies (21%).

Source: Behave