Australian organisations are overlooking a reputational blind spot that could impact revenue, with new research showing 92 per cent of Australian consumers will silently disengage when brand believability is lost.
This is a key finding from Ogilvy’s latest Believability Index: The Power of Proof which examines the perceived believability of brands and organisations, the sources consumers rely on high-stakes issues, and the direct impact of lost belief on consumer behaviour.
Released this week, the report shows that the most pressing threat to corporate reputation in Australia is not a viral social media backlash, but rather the ‘silent exit’ of customers. As part of this disengagement, consumers stop buying (58 per cent), quietly switch to a competitor (37 per cent), or simply avoid the organisation’s content without telling anyone (22 per cent) when they stop believing a brand. Only 6 per cent will ever post a negative comment about a brand experience on social media.
President Ogilvy PR & Influence Asia and ANZ, and chief client officer ANZ Richard Brett said believability is now a critical indicator of business health: “For years, the communications industry has equated reputational risk with visible, public outrage. But our data proves that managing the vocal minority means missing the silent majority. By the time a consumer publicly complains on a forum, multiple others have already transferred their loyalty to a competitor without leaving a digital trace. The true cost of this ‘silent exit’ is measured in lost revenue, not negative headlines.”
For the first time, this year’s Believability Index has also examined how consumers across seven Asia-Pacific markets determine what – and who – they believe in an increasingly complex information environment. Results from the Asia-Pacific survey showed that consumers across the region – including Australia – were increasingly searching for authenticity in a period defined by AI slop, deepfakes, and made-up stories where truth has become fragmented.
But unlike other markets, more than half of Australians value lived experience as the most credible and believable source above institutional authorities, according to the Believability Index. This jumps to 60 per cent among Baby Boomers – the highest of any generation. By comparison, other APAC markets operate more on a top-down model of authority. For example in Singapore, 57 per cent find government or official sources the most believable on important issues – compared to just 30 per cent of Australians.
Australia is also the most evidence-demanding market in the region. When making high-stakes decisions, 59 per cent of Australians prioritise evidence they can verify themselves in their top three sources, above every other market surveyed and well ahead of the regional average of 48 per cent.
“Credibility has become a premium currency across the region, with every brand communication is a transaction,” Brett continued. “But communicators can no longer assume that one unified campaign can cross borders seamlessly. Our data reveals that the structure of proof is highly market specific.
“Australians have long prided themselves on a healthy scepticism of authority and that scepticism has deepened in 2026. A single APAC communications strategy is almost certainly bound to underperform here.”
Other key findings from the Believability Index show:
Organisational purpose – such as environmental, social and governance – remains important to Australian consumers but cannot compensate for operational shortfalls. 38 per cent of Australians said they abandoned organisations in the past year because a product or service simply didn’t do what it promised, outweighing the 24 per cent who leave over poor business ethics.
The idea that organisations can be permanently ‘cancelled’ is actually quite rare, according to the Believability Index, with 83 per cent of Australians overall saying that lost belief in an organisation or brand can be regained. This figure varies according to generations, with 93 per cent of Gen Z stating belief can be restored, compared to 73 per cent of Baby Boomers. However, consumers have evolved beyond accepting the traditional corporate PR apology, saying it now must be paired with a meaningful solve to an issue; 58 per cent consumers demand active, operational correction before they believe a brand or organisation again, which outranks a public acknowledgement (50 per cent).
To help organisations operationalise these findings, Ogilvy PR has launched the Believability Diagnostic Tool, powered by an enterprise-grade AI agents built and housed in WPP Open. Utilising a multi-agent architecture that pairs Ogilvy’s proprietary seven-year Believability dataset with a behavioural science cognitive engine, the tool analyses a brand’s “Say-Do Gap” – the distance between its marketing promises and actual operational reality. By triangulating corporate messaging against verified customer and employee sentiment, the tool calculates a brand’s “Believability Elasticity,” allowing C-Suite leaders to predict and prevent silent customer churn before it impacts the bottom line.
