Australia’s consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC), is on the trail of influencers guilty of
making misleading endorsements and testimonials of consumer goods and
services across the digital economy.
It will be sweeping social media platforms, including Instagram,
TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook, looking for social media
influencers who do not disclose their affiliations with products they
are endorsing.
The ACCC’s sleuths are targeting sectors where influencer marketing
is particularly widespread, including fashion, beauty and cosmetics,
food and beverage, travel, health fitness and wellbeing, parenting,
gaming and technology.
The ACCC noted, “Many consumers are aware that influencers receive a
financial benefit for promoting products and services. However, the ACCC
remains concerned that influencers, advertisers and brands try to hide
this fact from consumers, which prevents them from making informed
choices.
“This can particularly apply to micro influencers with smaller
followings, as they can build and maintain a more seemingly authentic
relationship with followers to add legitimacy to hidden advertising
posts.”
The investigation will examine more than 100 influencers named in
more than 150 tip-offs from consumers who responded to the consumer
watchdog’s Facebook post asking for information.
Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC, said, “The number of tip-offs
reflects the community concern about the ever-increasing number of
manipulative marketing techniques on social media, designed to exploit
or pressure consumers into purchasing goods or services.
“Consumers often rely on reviews and testimonials when making purchases, but misleading endorsements can be very harmful.”
Along with influencers, the ACCC will also consider the role of other
parties such as advertisers, marketers, brands and social media
platforms in facilitating misconduct.
“It is important social media influencers are clear if there are any
commercial motivations behind their posts. This includes those posts
that are incentivised and presented as impartial but are not.
“The ACCC will not hesitate to take action where we see consumers are
at risk of being misled or deceived by a testimonial, and there is
potential for significant harm,” said Cass-Gottlieb.
The ACCC will publish the findings of this sweep once the results have been analysed.