Brands are starting to pull back from hyper-aggressive AI personalisation after realising a hard truth: more data doesn’t automatically mean more trust. In many cases, it’s doing the opposite.
A recent Ad Age investigation shows that data-heavy personalisation strategies are increasingly being perceived as intrusive rather than helpful. Instead of feeling “understood,” customers say these experiences resemble digital surveillance, accelerating trust erosion across industries.
This challenges a long-standing belief in marketing—that deeper data collection leads to stronger customer relationships. The evidence now suggests that over-personalisation is alienating audiences instead of engaging them.
What makes the situation more striking is the gap between brand behaviour and consumer sentiment. Despite economic pressure and rising scepticism, 92% of businesses continue investing in AI-driven personalisation tools. Meanwhile, consumer discomfort is growing fast.
Studies from 2024 indicate that between 54% and 76% of US adults feel uneasy about AI using their personal data for shopping recommendations. Pew Research Center adds another red flag: 81% of consumers believe AI companies use personal data in ways that make people uncomfortable.
Scepticism is even stronger among multicultural audiences, who often react negatively to AI-generated content and personalised advertising. A Forbes analysis published in January 2025 found that 53.8% of consumers are actively concerned about how their data is collected and used within personalisation systems.