Trust Recession

Introduction: The Trust Recession Defined

We live in a world where all of the information we could ever need is at our fingertips. We can check just about any fact that we need to at the speed of type. Such a wealth of knowledge and information means that day-by-day we can have increasing confidence in what we read and what we hear. Right?  

Right? 

It would not appear so. We’re entering an era that has been termed as The Trust Recession. Consumers are becoming increasingly sceptical of what they see and read online, largely driven by our feeds being flooded with AI-generated content. This distrust is even more engrained within younger generations, with over 70% of Gen Z expressing concerns about trusting information generated by AI, highlighting increasingly significant trust issues.

Let's dive into what’s at stake, why the Trust Recession is happening, what it means and how you can use it to your advantage.  

Why is the Trust Recession happening? 

1. Saturation of AI-generated content

   
   

One of the most obvious and pressing reasons why people are starting to switch off from AI-generated content is the sheer volume that's being pumped out. Every brand, creator, man and his dog now have the ability to churn out incredible volumes of content at an unprecedented scale. However, one of the main problems is: 

Most of it is s**t 

Increasingly there is little to no care or attention paid to what is being put out. Just how much can be put out and how quickly. This is a dangerous trend as it starts to undermine two of the main things that make a great piece of content: the quality and accuracy. Everything is starting to look and sound the same, as Large Language Models (LLMs) roll out similar sets of words, in similar orders, about any given topic. 

This has led to an increase in consumer fatigue, where everything you read looks and sounds the same. It’s an increasingly large echo chamber with an increasing number of people shouting the same things around it. It’s enough to give anyone a headache. 

It reduces the distinctiveness and authenticity of each individual piece of content, as it becomes a grain of sand on a beach. 

Sometimes, more does not equal better.

2. Errors, inaccuracies, and hallucinations

   
   

So, now with less and less oversight and original writing, we’re at the mercy of the machines. Luckily these are super-intelligent beings that can process insane amounts of information, and so can never be incorrect. Right? 

(Sometimes) Wrong! 

Although LLMs are undoubtedly becoming more powerful day-by-day, they are susceptible to ‘hallucinations’. This is increasingly prevalent with the invention of AI overviews, where normal web users are now exposed to AI, whether they like it or not. ~42% of web users have experienced inaccurate or misleading content in AI Overviews. 2

“AI hallucinations are incorrect or misleading results that AI models generate. These errors can be caused by a variety of factors, including insufficient training data, incorrect assumptions made by the model, or biases in the data used to train the model.” 3

So, in layman's terms. If they don’t know an answer, they’ll make it up. Ironically, they’re so clever that they’ll also make up a convincing enough lie that it sounds true so that you’ll believe it. 

Tricky, eh?

3. Privacy, data concerns and misuse

   
   

You’ve crafted the perfect prompt, uploaded all of your very sensitive internal documents and sent your chat off into the void. But where does all of that information actually go? 

In short, it’s highly unlikely that it is being kept private. Anything that you upload into an open system is used to continually train the algorithm and that data is theoretically then available to everyone else using it. Whilst there are ways to get around this, like using locally-hosted servers and adjusting certain settings, the majority of time your sensitive information will not remain sensitive. 

A lot of companies have very opaque policies about how your data is stored and used, in an industry that still has very little regulation. 

In short, don’t blindly trust them with information if you want it to be kept private!

Consequences / What’s at Risk

Why should you care about the Trust Recession? Well, if you 1) work for a brand that sells things 2) work for an agency that works for brands that sell things or anything in between, then it’s all very important. If your customers lose trust in you, you will lose the customers. 

• Brand reputation: Once trust is lost, it is hard to rebuild. Associated with lowered perceived quality, less willingness to buy.

  
  

• Engagement: Readers may disengage, skip content; lower click-throughs; less loyalty, less sharing.

  
  

• Purchase intent / willingness to pay premium: As evidence shows, brands suffer reduced purchase consideration when adjacent content is suspected AI.4

  
  

• Regulation and backlash risk: Government / public pressure for disclosure, possibly legislation, tighter standards; risk of being exposed or accused of “AI-washing” (claiming use of AI without meaningful or transparent use).

  
  

• Internal risk: Employee morale / delivery issues, if the team is forced to push low-quality content; risk of error and misinformation.

  
  

Radical Honesty: Turning the Trust Recession on its Head

So, where does that leave us? If consumer trust is in freefall, the instinctive response might be to double down on polish and perfection. Bad idea. 

There is an antidote and it's called radical honesty. If the name’s not self explanatory, go have a look at Ryan Air’s Instagram. No seriously, their social media manager deserves a fat raise.

Radical honesty goes beyond the obligatory “we value your privacy” slogan buried in fine print. It means being upfront about your mistakes, transparent about your processes and candid about your limitations. Instead of hiding your flaws and then praying nobody finds them, you put them front and centre. It sounds counter‑intuitive, but the data suggests it’s the most effective way to rebuild trust. 5, 6

Why Radical Honesty Works

Radical honesty works because it does three things simultaneously:

1. It humanises your brand. When a company owns up to its missteps and shows the messy bits, consumers start seeing real people rather than a faceless corporation. Also why real faces and people on social media get more traction than brands.

   
   

2. It satisfies a craving for authenticity. Younger audiences in particular have laser‑tuned bull**it detectors.

   
   

3. It flips the narrative. In 2009, Domino’s Pizza launched a brutally candid ad campaign after discovering customers thought their pizza tasted like cardboard. In their own commercial, the company showed quotes such as “mass produced, boring, bland” and even “microwave pizza is far superior”. The ads stated bluntly, “We admit we screwed up. We’re trying to improve” U.S. same‑store sales jumped by nearly 10 % and Domino’s engineered one of the industry’s most impressive turnarounds

   
   

Honesty also insulates you from crisis. Hiding a data breach or pretending a product defect never happened is a fast way to get cancelled. Being candid about a problem like “our servers overheated; we’re fixing it” may sting in the short term but often transforms anger into empathy 7. 

Some Inspiration for You (What does Radical Honesty look like?)

• Patagonia – “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” On Black Friday 2011, Patagonia ran a full‑page ad in The New York Times with a headline that read, “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” Instead of pushing impulse purchases, they explained the environmental cost of producing the coat and urged customers to consider whether they really needed it. This campaign was linked to a 30 % increase in sales the following year 8, proving that even telling people not to shop can actually boost business when it aligns with your values.

  
  

• Everlane – Radical Transparency. Everlane built a whole clothing line on disclosing cost breakdowns. Each product page lists the price of materials, labour, duties and transport, and shows the exact factory where the item was made 9. This pricing demystifies mark‑ups and makes customers feel they’re paying a fair price.

  
  

• Buffer – Open Salaries. The social media tool posts every employee’s salary and shares company performance metrics. This radical transparency turned the brand into a cultural icon and significantly boosted internal morale 10.

  
  

• REI – #OptOutside. Outdoor retailer REI closed all its stores on Black Friday and encouraged customers to spend the day outside. The message reinforced their brand mission of getting people outdoors and showed that matters more than revenue solidifying their positioning. 11.

  
  

The Trust Recession might be daunting, but it also sets the stage for the most exciting marketing revolution in years. Embrace it.