Customers shell out £ 2bn after inaccurate claims over products

CUSTOMERS HAVE wrongly spent more than £ 2bn on products and services in the last year because of misinformation, research suggests.

According to a report by online firm Yext, inaccurate information about a brand found online was the main cause of the spending.

A survey of more than 6,000 people also found that 87 per cent of the public believe misinformation is an issue and 45 per cent said it was a key problem for businesses when it came to displaying correct information online.

The report found that in total £ 2.1bn had been spent in the last 12 months on products and services because of the issue, with the public saying misinformation was having an impact on trust between businesses and consumers.

Some 71 per cent of those asked said brands should be taking misinformation about their business more seriously. Jon Buss, managing director in Europe at Yext, said: “Misinformation is now a key battleground for trust.

“With more consumers than ever searching for answers about brands and products online, expectations about the accuracy of what they find have become greater than ever.”

He added that the issue of misinformation in news was also impacting on trust elsewhere and urged businesses to do more to ensure they were accurate in their communications with the public.

Internet platforms and social media sites have come under increasedscrutiny over their efforts to combat the spread of misinformation online, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic and false claims around the virus. According to the report, concern about misinformation is rising.