How Lack of Brand Authenticity Drives Customers Away

Airbnb’s 2017 “Floating World” email campaign promoted water-themed stays. But it used lines such as “stay above water” at the same time Hurricane Harvey was flooding Texas and displacing more than 30,000 people. Not the smartest move.

People criticized the email as insensitive, and Airbnb had to apologize for the campaign while offering free stays to evacuees through its disaster response program.

Reactions like that often start when people feel a campaign clashes with the values a brand claims to stand for.

Clutch’s survey of 416 consumers on brand loyalty found that almost half, 48%, would stop buying from a brand if its marketing felt inauthentic, such as when the message does not match the company's behavior or product experience.

Quincy Samycia, CEO and founder of The Branded Agency, puts it this way: “If you've been living your brand truth consistently, your audience gives you the benefit of the doubt when things get messy.”

These days, social feeds surface contradictions quickly, and people vote with their wallets. In such a fast-paced social media environment, brand authenticity serves as both a risk control and a lever for growth.

This article examines the root causes of inauthentic branding and provides practical strategies for detecting and preventing it before customers decide to leave.

Common Triggers of Perceived Inauthenticity

Inauthentic branding occurs when a creator or company’s actions and internal decisions are inconsistent with the values or commitments it publicly makes.

This perception can grow when:

• Values only show up in campaigns, but not in company practices
• A campaign feels tone-deaf to real concerns
• The message does not match what happens in the store or in the product, or
• When the brand’s voice shifts from one channel to another in a way that feels inconsistent.

The following patterns illustrate how it often occurs and what to look out for next:

• Mismatched messaging
• Performative values
• Tone-deaf campaigns
• Inconsistent brand voice

Mismatched Messaging

Mismatched messaging occurs when what you say doesn't align with who you are. The discrepancy can be about brand values or even tone in marketing messages.

People online now have more information available to them than ever. If the mismatch occurs, they may compare your words to media campaigns and watchdog reports. When they catch a gap, they call it out.

JCPenney's attempted rebranding under CEO Ron Johnson illustrates how mismatched messaging can deter loyal shoppers. For years, the store was renowned for its affordable clothing and home goods, offering constant coupons and major sales.

Johnson attempted to transform it into a more upscale brand with trendy layouts and a “fair and square” pricing plan that eliminated most discounts. The new look and ads suggested a stylish, higher-end store, but regular customers still expected deals and familiar sales. Many felt the store was no longer for them and stopped shopping there. Sales dropped sharply.

When your message promises values that your operations can't back up, customers sense the gap. The fix doesn't start in the marketing department. It starts with how policies, merchandising, hiring, and vendor choices line up with the values you convey.

Performative Values

Performative values appear when you say you care about a cause, but your business decisions feel as if those values are just for marketing attention.

The test is simple: Track if your brand reflects the advertised values even after the marketing campaign is over.

Lululemon’s "Be Planet" sustainability campaign shows how acting performatively can erode trust. The company promoted itself as climate-conscious in its branding. But advocates pointed to the company’s growing carbon emissions and questionable supply chain.

Canada's Competition Bureau has even opened an investigation into whether the company's environmental claims mislead shoppers..

Performative tactics erode trust because people often perceive them as evidence that marketing is prioritizing style over substance. Instead, a company's values must also be visible in policies and governance that last beyond a single post or press release.

Tone-Deaf Campaigns

Tone-deaf campaigns occur when a brand attempts to engage with a major cultural moment but misunderstands or misinterprets the public’s sentiment.

One infamous case involves Pepsi’s 2017 commercial with Kendall Jenner. It showed the model joining a street protest and calming a standoff by handing a police officer a can of Pepsi.

However, the audience felt that it played down real protest movements. So Pepsi pulled the ad within a day and apologized. This error in judgment turned a planned message of unity into a glaring example of tone-deaf marketing.

The marketing takeaway is practical. If your actions convey strong societal signals, a mismatched response or one-sided campaign can be perceived as tone-deaf and trigger backlash that lingers.

Inconsistent Brand Voice

An inconsistent brand voice occurs when your brand presents itself in one way on one channel and acts completely differently elsewhere.

Remember, your voice is not only ad copy. It's also messaging and branding that are visible in product updates, support replies, and social posts. When there's a major inconsistency in brand voice between places, people start to question whether your company is genuine.

The rebrand of Twitter to X is a recent example.

The company unveiled a new name and an ambitious vision for an "everything" app. Yet many parts of the product and site still used the old Twitter terms and visual cues.

Source

Users saw the X logo in some places and the familiar bird logo in others, which created confusion about what the platform was and what it wanted to be.

Clear brand voice guidelines that cover every channel help prevent this. When teams share a single voice and set of rules, your brand appears more stable and trustworthy over time.

Spotting the Red Flags Before Consumers Do

You can act early to prevent inauthentic communication that hurts the brand. Use this checklist to spot early warning signs:

• Are your brand values visible in actual business practices? If values appear in campaigns but not in product roadmaps, the brand may seem to be making promises it has not yet fulfilled.
• Is your tone consistent across all channels? Compare a few recent statements across the web and social media. If each reads like it's from a different company, customers will notice that inconsistency.
• Do employees and customers describe your brand the same way? Compare internal surveys with review site comments and call transcripts to gain a comprehensive understanding of customer feedback. This could reveal a mismatch in brand identity.
• Are you responding to social issues from a place of credibility or convenience? If participation starts only after a trending topic spikes, audiences will question the motive. Focus on issues where your past and present actions show your genuine commitment to your message.
• Has your audience changed? Market share shifts can reveal if a different customer segment is driving growth. Your messaging should cater to this change in audience, if needed.

Following a checklist like this helps catch the red flag earlier. For instance, you can analyze a campaign before launch and then align your teams accordingly to take the right steps.

How To Rebuild (and Maintain) Brand Authenticity

You can't rebuild authenticity with a one-off campaign. It takes clear choices and consistent actions.

This effort is worth it. Research indicates that loyal customers protect brands they see as credible. In a crisis, that support from customers buys time to explain a decision or correct a mistake.

The following tips help connect a committed brand identity with the marketing message:

1. Align internal culture with external messaging
2. Practice transparency, not perfection
3. Invest in listening
4. Build long-term values, not viral moments

Align Internal Culture With External Messaging

Start with the company culture. Aligning culture and messaging often means policy change, not just a marketing copy rewrite.

For example, if recruiting targets do not reflect your inclusion goals, a diversity claim will sound like nothing more than PR. When a value matters, fund it. Hire for it. Tie management bonuses to it.

• If sustainability is a key value, provide your purchasing team with clear instructions on selecting suppliers with strong environmental values.
• If you're committing to accessibility, focus on it in all system designs and quality assurance.

When internal culture and external messaging match, the brand feels genuine.

Practice Transparency, Not Perfection

When it comes to establishing authenticity, honesty is often more effective than spin. People are more likely to accept imperfect progress when leaders are honest. Aim to keep your customers clearly informed about the company's current position and the next steps.

If you have promised better inclusion and your hiring data still falls short, explain what you are doing this quarter to improve diversity and what's next. Post updates on specific improvement steps the brand is taking. Also, create a regular schedule for publishing your progress so the story doesn't vanish after the first announcement.

When controversy arises, address it promptly with facts and follow up. Strong crisis responses do a few things well:

• They show all the steps taken to mitigate any harm.
• They explain what the brand will do differently.
• They commit to a time-bound update.

People can disapprove of an action but still respect the way you operate when you clearly communicate and take meaningful responses that customers can see.

Invest in Listening

Authenticity grows when a brand listens before it speaks. You should be paying attention to:

• Direct customer feedback through reviews and support transcripts
• Employee sentiment in internal forums and exit interviews
• Community voices in the spaces where your audience spends time

Then close the loop. Let people know that you listened and made changes as a result. When customers see their input reflected in product updates or policy revisions, they're more likely to perceive the brand as genuinely responsive and caring.

Build Long-Term Values, Not Viral Moments

Chasing viral attention is tempting. However, the better approach is to select a few key values and consistently express them over time. Long-term consistency reduces the chance that a single failed campaign will define the brand.

Inauthentic brands that make big claims without a credible history invite scrutiny. Effective trust-building takes time and effort:

• Build programs that last longer than a quarter.
• Publish impact reports with consistent metrics.
• Train spokespeople to communicate the same message across interviews.

Integrate these strategies into the company culture as a foundation for creating long-lasting brand authenticity.

Authenticity That Customers Can Recognize

Brand authenticity offers a genuine advantage, as customers often reward brands they feel a connection to through their purchasing decisions. The examples here show how quickly a brand’s credibility can suffer when a campaign feels inauthentic or a response is mishandled.

Research data also shows how unforgiving that can be. According to our latest survey, nearly half of consumers stated that they would stop buying from a brand they perceive as inauthentic. That's a direct link between credibility and revenue.

Focus on a few key strategies to maintain or restore trust:

• Back your messages and campaign promises with real action that the public can see.
• Speak with one voice across channels.
• Respond with facts when you miss the mark.
• Keep listening even when the feedback stings.

Building brand authenticity is ongoing work that shapes how you market and make decisions. So keep your teams’ messages and actions aligned, and give customers clear proof that you follow through on the values you claim.

The reward is often long-term loyalty and the ability to weather bad news or a marketing misstep without losing your loyal customer base.

About the Author

Anna Peck Content Marketing Manager at Clutch

Anna Peck is a content marketing manager at Clutch, where she crafts content on digital marketing, SEO, and public relations. In addition to editing and producing engaging B2B content, she plays a key role in Clutch’s awards program and contributed content efforts. Originally joining Clutch as part of the reviews team, she now focuses on developing SEO-driven content strategies that offer valuable insights to B2B buyers seeking the best service providers.

See full profile