A vast majority of fashion influencers are making concerning posts on social media, according to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC).
This comes amid an ongoing sweep into influencers by the ACCC across seven sectors.
Of the 118 social media influencers reviewed in the sweep, 81% were found to be making posts that raised concerns under the Australian Consumer Law for potentially misleading advertising.
Fashion influencers had the highest proportion across influencers, at 26 of the total 118, followed by travel and lifestyle at 19, and health, fitness and wellbeing at 18.
For fashion in particular, recent reports found the most common platforms used by fashion influencers to promote goods included Instagram and TikTok which often took the form of shopping or ‘get ready with me’ style videos or photo series posts.
The most common brands involved in potentially misleading posts were ‘fast fashion’ brands targeted at younger consumer demographics.
According to the ACCC’s report, the most common issue across all sectors was failing to disclose brand relationships in posts.
This includes sharing posts made by brands, prominently featuring brands or products in their posts, posting promotional or discount codes or website referral links, and not consistently using platform advertising disclosure tools.
“Many of the influencers we reviewed did not make adequate disclosures in their posts where it appeared they were receiving payment, gifts or other incentives to promote brands, products or services,” ACCC acting chair Catriona Lowe said.
Another common issue was influencers using vague or confusing language to disclose advertising, such as ‘sp’ and ‘spon’ instead of ‘sponsored’.
“We found that many influencers were formatting their posts to hide their advertising disclosure or make it difficult for consumers to notice it.
“Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses must not mislead or deceive consumers. This applies to influencers engaging in trade or commerce, as well as brands and marketers using influencers to advertise online.
“Influencers and brands may break the law if they do not take reasonable steps to ensure consumers are not misled to believe that sponsored posts are genuine.”
The report also found that some influencers would respond to individual comments from users on their posts to further encourage or direct them towards purchasing items.
In one example provided in the report, fashion influencers would respond to queries from followers on the style or size of a dress they were modelling, or where that item might be in stock in different locations.
“These responses to consumer queries often further praised the item, with some influencers also placing pressure on consumers to purchase quickly due to limited stock or the potential to miss out,” the report read.
“When this direct encouragement or pressure is applied by the influencer, it is likely to have a greater influence on consumer purchasing behaviour than traditional advertising techniques.”
The sectors with the greatest proportion of concerning posts are led by fashion, followed by home and parenting, and then travel and lifestyle.
“Influencers often cultivate an image of themselves as being relatable and genuine, which can create an element of trust with their followers when it comes to recommendations,” Lowe said.
“Based on the findings of our sweep, we are concerned that influencers, brands and advertisers are taking advantage of consumers’ trust through hidden advertising in social media posts by influencers.”
In a separate internet sweep to identify fake or misleading online reviews, the ACCC found that 37% out of 137 businesses reviewed had engaged in concerning conduct.
“Our sweep indicates that some businesses are manipulating online reviews to present a more favourable impression of their business to consumers,” Lowe said.
“Misleading reviews cause considerable harm to consumers who increasingly seek out and rely on online reviews to help them make a purchase.”
The sectors with the highest proportions of potentially fake or misleading online reviews were household appliances and electronics, beauty products, and home improvement and household products and services. Those with the lowest proportion of potentially fake or misleading online reviews were health products, and food and restaurants.
The sweep found a prevalence of businesses using third-party professional reviewers and review removalists as a tool to manage their online reputation. The ACCC reviewed 24 of these businesses that offer services to create fake reviews, remove negative reviews and prevent or edit negative reviews.
The sweep also found that some third-party review management services enable review manipulation by encouraging businesses to choose which reviews to publicly display. This includes directing customers with positive experiences to post a public review, while referring those with negative experiences directly to the business.
“Businesses that seek to create fake reviews or edit or remove genuine negative reviews, with the intention of inflating their own ratings, lowering their competitors’ ratings, or hiding genuine negative reviews from the public, are in breach of the Australian Consumer Law,” Lowe said.
“Whilst it may be important to businesses to manage their online reputation, they need to ensure that in doing so they are not misleading consumers.
“The ACCC will continue to monitor businesses that offer services to facilitate the manipulation of consumer reviews, including the removal, blocking or prevention of legitimate consumer reviews about a product, service or business.”
The sweep also found that most businesses and third-party review platforms were not disclosing whether reviews were incentivised and did not require reviewers to disclose whether they had received a benefit or incentive for submitting a review.
“Businesses that do not disclose incentivised reviews are likely to mislead consumers as it presents incentivised reviews as impartial when they are not,” Lowe said.
“Many businesses reviewed also appear to have fake positive reviews on their website or third-party review platforms, which is in contravention of the law.”
Lowe said the next steps in its sweep include developing strong guidelines for online operators so they know what is expected of them before a renewed focus on enforcement.
She said influencers and businesses need to review their practices and comply with the Australian Consumer Law to improve consumer trust online.
“Influencers and businesses need to review their practices and improve compliance with the Australian Consumer Law to ensure consumers can trust the information they find online,” Lowe said.
“The findings of our online reviews sweep will inform our education, compliance and enforcement activities with businesses, including producing updated guidance material for businesses and review platforms.
“We will also develop educational material for consumers to help them identify potentially fake or misleading online reviews.”