Brand transparency is closely tied to whether people trust a company, understand its products, feel safe sharing data, and believe its public claims. Recent global surveys show that transparency is not one single behavior: it includes clear values, privacy explanations, sustainability evidence, product details, and honest commercial disclosure.
Contents
- Why transparency affects trust and buying
- Values, authenticity, and public communication
- Data privacy and personalization
- Sustainability and supply-chain information
- Product information, labels, and price clarity
- Social proof, influencer disclosure, and authenticity
Why transparency affects trust and buying
Trust is a practical purchase factor. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer reported that 80% of people globally trusted the brands they used in 2025, while trust was lower for every traditional institution measured in that report. The same report is a reminder that brand trust should be read in its stated 2025 context, rather than treated as a timeless benchmark. (2025 Edelman Trust Barometer: Brand Trust, From We to Me)
Edelman’s global 2025 brand-trust research found that 88% of respondents considered trusting the company that owns a brand important or a deal breaker in their purchase behavior. Trusting the brand itself reached 84%, and having a good brand reputation reached 85%. These results distinguish corporate ownership, the consumer-facing brand, and reputation, but all three are connected to the information a company makes available and the consistency of its conduct. (2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust, From We to Me)
Trust also varied by industry in the same 2025 global research. Seventy-three percent trusted food and beverage to do what is right, compared with 74% for farming and fishery, 70% for grocery retail, and 57% for fast food. The spread suggests that transparency expectations may be especially important where consumers cannot directly observe sourcing, processing, or business practices.
Values, authenticity, and public communication
Transparency includes explaining what a brand stands for and showing how those positions connect to action. In Edelman’s 2025 global findings, 73% said a brand would increase their trust by authentically reflecting today’s culture. Only 27% said their trust would increase when a brand ignored culture and focused solely on products. Authenticity therefore mattered more than a narrowly product-only approach in this measurement.
Silence can also be interpreted as a signal. Half of global respondents in the 2025 Edelman research said they would assume a brand was doing nothing or hiding something if it did not communicate its action on a societal challenge. Among economically powerful boomers, 60% said they would be less likely to buy from a brand that ignored its obligation to address a societal issue. These figures measure reported attitudes, not a verified change in sales.
Earlier evidence points in a similar direction but comes from a different period. In Accenture’s 2018 global survey, 62% of consumers wanted companies to take a stand on relevant issues including sustainability, transparency, and fair employment practices. Among disappointed US consumers, 48% said they complained about a brand’s words or actions on a social issue, while 20% permanently walked away from brands whose words or actions did not align with their beliefs. (The Power of Brand Purpose)
The older figures should not be presented as current estimates. A 2019 YouGov-reported survey found that 61% of US respondents said a brand’s advertisement should not reflect their political beliefs. That result helps separate transparency from political persuasion: consumers may want clear values and truthful communication without wanting every advertisement to mirror their politics. (41% of US consumers value authenticity and transparency while selecting a brand)
Data privacy and personalization
Data practices are one of the clearest tests of transparency because personalization can feel useful or intrusive depending on what people understand. PwC’s global 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey found that 83% considered personal-data protection one of the most crucial factors for earning their trust. Another 80% demanded assurances that their personal information would remain private, but only 52% felt confident understanding how their data was stored or shared. (Consumers willing to pay 9.7% sustainability premium)
Accenture’s 2019 global research found that about 73% of consumers would share more personal information when brands were transparent about its use. The share rose from 66% in 2018 to about 73% in the 2019 survey. The period comparison reflects the survey reporting and should not be read as a causal trend or a forecast.
The same research identified a boundary between relevant personalization and overreach. More than 71% of consumers who felt a brand’s communication was too personal said the brand had information about them or their family that they had not shared directly. Nearly 30% said a brand had become too personal, and 69% of those consumers said they would stop doing business with it or reconsider the relationship. More than 75% were uncomfortable with data collection through a microphone or voice assistant, while 51% said invasive ads were on the rise. (New Global Research from Accenture Interactive)
At the same time, 87% said it was important to buy from a brand or retailer that understood the real them in Accenture’s 2019 survey. The contrast is useful: consumers may value relevant understanding while still expecting a clear explanation of where the information came from and how it is being used.
Sustainability and supply-chain information
Sustainability claims create a demand for evidence. In PwC’s global 2024 survey, 85% said they were experiencing the disruptive effects of climate change in daily life. Forty-six percent said they were buying more sustainable products to reduce their environmental impact, and 80% said they were willing to pay more for sustainably produced or sourced goods. The reported average premium was 9.7%.
Consumers also indicated which information could make a purchase more likely. Production methods and recycling were identified by 40% of PwC’s global consumers, eco-friendly packaging by 38%, and positive impacts on nature and water conservation by 34%. These percentages describe information preferences in the 2024 survey; they do not establish that any particular disclosure caused a purchase.
IBM’s 2023 research shows why accessible evidence remains a challenge. Only 41% of surveyed consumers said they had enough data to make environmentally sustainable purchasing decisions, and only 37% said they had enough data to make environmentally sustainable employment decisions. Yet 68% considered environmental sustainability very or extremely important, while 65% said the same about social responsibility. Cost pressure was also material: 51% said cost-of-living increases had made environmentally sustainable decisions more difficult during the prior 12 months. (New IBM Study Reveals Inadequate Data Hinders Progress Against Environmental, Social and Governance Goals)
| Transparency signal | Reported share | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Willing to pay more for sustainable goods | 80% | PwC, 2024 |
| Experiencing climate disruption in daily life | 85% | PwC, 2024 |
| Enough data for sustainable purchasing decisions | 41% | IBM, 2023 |
| Environmental sustainability very or extremely important | 68% | IBM, 2023 |
The gap between importance and available information is a central transparency problem. A sustainability promise is easier to evaluate when a company explains methods, packaging, sourcing, and measurable impacts in terms consumers can use.
Product information, labels, and price clarity
Product-level information turns a general transparency promise into something shoppers can inspect. In NIQ/FMI Transparency Trends research, 76% of US grocery shoppers affirmed the importance of transparent product information from brands and manufacturers in 2023. In the report published in 2024, more than 80% said they were somewhat or very likely to use a QR code, website, app, or similar tool to seek product details. (5 Ways Transparency Will Evolve)
The same NIQ report said a 2D barcode can hold upwards of 7,000 characters of product information. That capacity can support details that do not fit on a package, although the figure describes storage capacity rather than the quality, accuracy, or usefulness of a company’s disclosure.
IBM’s 2020 consumer research connected specific attributes with willingness to pay a premium. Among consumers who considered each attribute very important, 71% were willing to pay a premium for full transparency, 72% for product authenticity, 73% for natural or organic ingredients, 72% for recycling support, 77% for clean products, and 75% for simplification. (Meet the 2020 consumers driving change)
| Attribute considered very important | Willing to pay a premium | Study period |
|---|---|---|
| Clean products | 77% | IBM, 2020 |
| Simplification | 75% | IBM, 2020 |
| Natural or organic ingredients | 73% | IBM, 2020 |
| Product authenticity | 72% | IBM, 2020 |
| Recycling support | 72% | IBM, 2020 |
| Full transparency | 71% | IBM, 2020 |
These are conditional percentages: they describe consumers who already rated the attribute very important. They are not estimates of all consumers’ willingness to pay.
Social proof, influencer disclosure, and authenticity
Digital discovery makes transparency relevant after a product leaves the company’s own website. PwC found that 67% of global consumers used social media to discover new brands in 2024, while 70% sought reviews to validate a company before purchasing. A celebrity or influencer had influenced a purchase decision for 41% of global consumers. (Consumers willing to pay 9.7% sustainability premium)
The EU’s 2024 sweep of influencer marketing found that 97% of influencers screened by consumer authorities had posted commercial content. Only 20% systematically indicated that their content was advertising. The result highlights a disclosure gap between commercial activity and clear labeling. (Influencer marketing: EU consumer protection authorities publish results of screening)
Marketplace authenticity also depends on verification and anti-counterfeit controls. Amazon reported that 100% of new sellers were required to complete its verification process before selling in its store in 2025. Amazon also reported enrolling more than 90,000 brands worldwide in its Transparency product-serialization program from 2017 through 2025, blocking more than 99.9% of suspected infringing listings before a brand owner reported them in 2025, and identifying, seizing, and disposing of more than 15 million counterfeit products worldwide in 2025. These are Amazon-reported figures about its own programs and controls, not an independent estimate of all marketplace counterfeiting. (Amazon’s Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report)
Together, the findings show why brand transparency has several layers: consumers want trustworthy companies, understandable data practices, credible sustainability information, inspectable product details, and clearly labeled commercial recommendations. The strongest transparency signals are specific enough to be checked and current enough to match the period in which the claim is made.