Influencers, short videos lead social ads

The findings highlight opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers throughout the customer journey while improving campaign measurement and accountability.

DoubleVerify has published a report examining how social media and walled garden platforms are influencing consumer purchasing decisions, with short-form video and influencers emerging as important drivers of engagement and sales.

The 2026 Global Insights Report, Scroll, Stop and Shop: Walled Garden Trends draws on global surveys of 22,000 consumers and 2,020 marketers, alongside additional DoubleVerify data. The report examines how social platforms are expanding beyond brand discovery to support product research, purchasing and other stages of the consumer journey.

Social media increasingly influences purchasing decisions

The report found that 26 percent of consumers globally use social media to research products, while 25 percent purchased through social platforms in the past year. Additionally, 38 percent said seeing an advertisement on social media could encourage them to buy from a brand.

Regional differences were also evident. Consumers in Latin America were most likely to use social media for product research, at 36 percent, followed by Asia-Pacific at 30 percent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa at 21 percent, and North America at 20 percent.

Short-form video drives consumer action

Short-form video advertisements, including Reels, TikTok videos and YouTube Shorts, were the most influential advertising format measured in the report. Globally, 38 percent of consumers said these advertisements could prompt them to click or make a purchase.

By comparison, 31 percent identified advertisements before or during long-form video as prompting action, while 25 percent cited advertisements in social feeds. Short-form video performed particularly well in Latin America, where 49 percent of consumers reported potential purchase or click actions, and Asia-Pacific, at 47 percent. The figures were lower in EMEA, at 29 percent, and North America, at 27 percent.

Influencers remain important to purchase decisions

Influencers across follower categories continue to influence consumer purchasing behaviour. The research found that 47 percent of consumers were influenced by micro-influencers, 48 percent by macro-influencers and 49 percent by mega-influencers.

Mega-influencers, defined in the report as having more than one million followers, recorded the highest influence among the three groups. Their impact was strongest in Latin America and Asia-Pacific, at 58 percent in each region, compared with 40 percent in EMEA and 39 percent in North America.

Consumers show reservations about AI influencers

The report also identified concerns about brands using AI-generated influencers. Globally, 37 percent of consumers said they responded negatively to brands using AI-generated influencers, compared with 29 percent who responded positively.

Consumer sentiment was more favourable when human influencers used AI to help create content. Some 39 percent of consumers said they responded positively to this approach, 10 percentage points higher than the 29 percent who responded positively to AI-generated influencers themselves.

Advertisers face pressure to demonstrate returns

As social platforms play a greater role in consumer purchasing, marketers face challenges in targeting audiences, measuring returns and maintaining brand suitability. Reaching the intended audience was the leading concern among social advertisers, cited by 40 percent of respondents. Although this figure declined 12 percent year on year, it recorded the largest reduction among the challenges measured.

Calculating return on advertising spend (ROAS) or return on investment (ROI) ranked second, at 36 percent. Keeping up with content trends followed at 35 percent, while brand suitability and content alignment were cited by 34 percent. Managing campaigns across multiple channels ranked next, at 33 percent.

DoubleVerify highlights measurement and transparency

Mark Zagorski, CEO, DoubleVerify: "Social has fundamentally changed how brands and consumers connect. As these platforms become more central to the entire customer journey, advertisers have an opportunity to create stronger connections but doing so requires greater clarity into where and how their investments are working."

Zagorski also highlighted the importance of measurement as social advertising expands further down the purchasing funnel: "As social moves further down the funnel, advertisers are asking more of their investments. Reach still matters, but marketers also need to know whether those investments are driving results and appearing in environments that are right for their brands. Consistent measurement and transparency across social platforms are critical to making that possible."

To address these needs, DoubleVerify offers DV Authentic AdVantage, a solution designed to help advertisers measure media quality, protect brand equity and optimise business outcomes across social media. The solution operates on the DV Media AdVantage Platform (DV MAP), which combines media verification, AI-powered optimisation and campaign outcome measurement to support advertising performance and return on ad spend.

The full report can be accessed here

www.doubleverify.com

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