Developing
Question wording from 2025 is not reproduced, so some declines may reflect changed questions; fieldwork was February 2026.
In 60 seconds
- 22,000 consumers (±0.7 points) and 2,020 marketers (±2.2 points) were surveyed in February 2026 by Sapio Research.
- Consumers who bought on a social platform in 12 months fell to 25% from 30%; those saying influencers affect purchases fell to 48% from 54%.
- Marketers citing audience reach as the top social challenge fell to 40% from 46%.
- Reaction to AI influencers is split: 39% positive and 25% negative for a human with AI assistance, 29% and 37% for an obviously AI influencer.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- A large survey shows social buying and influencer sway slipping in the year to February 2026.
- Why it matters
- Social commerce budgets often assume rising purchase behaviour, and a survey-based decline is a reason to check your own data.
- Who is affected
- Social, influencer and brand teams planning 2027 budgets.
- Martech stack area
- Analytics, Advertising
- Stack impact
- Compare these shares with your own post-purchase survey and platform data before shifting budgets, because the 2025 question wording is not shown.
- Business impact
- Moderate Vendor research relayed by PPC Land. Question wording changes may affect year-on-year comparisons, platform usage jumped in ways the report does not reconcile, and the report does not mention Nielsen's pending acquisition of DoubleVerify.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- Next year's edition with disclosed question wording, and independent purchase data.
DoubleVerify emailed its report “Scroll, Stop and Shop: Walled Garden Trends” on October 14, 2026. PPC Land summarised it.
Sample
22,000 consumers in 21 countries (margin of error ±0.7 points) and 2,020 marketers in 25 countries (±2.2 points), at 95% confidence. Fieldwork was by Sapio Research in February 2026.
Findings (2026 versus the 2025 edition)
- Bought on a social platform in the past 12 months: 25%, down from 30%.
- Say influencers affect purchases: 48%, down from 54%.
- Marketers citing audience reach as the top social challenge: 40%, down from 46%.
- Likely to act on ads: YouTube 50%, Facebook 49%, Instagram 42%, TikTok 38%.
- Mega-influencers (over 1 million followers) significantly affect purchases for 25%, versus 18% for macro and micro influencers.
- AI influencer scenarios (positive/negative): human with AI assistance 39%/25%; realistic AI influencer 36%/30%; clearly AI content 32%/33%; obviously AI influencer 29%/37%.
Caveats
- The 2025 question wording is not reproduced, so declines may partly reflect changed questions.
- Platform usage jumps (for example, YouTube from 72% to 95%) suggest a different question or base, with no reconciliation.
- The report cites $408 billion for 2026 social ad spend; WARC forecast $394.6 billion.
- The AI findings are perceptions, not measured outcomes.
Our read
Read the direction with care. If your own post-purchase data shows the same slide, it is worth acting on.
Sources
- PPC Land: Social purchases drop to 25% from 30%, DoubleVerify surveys show (opens in a new tab)
Source for the sample, margins, figures and caveats.