(Yicai) Jan. 17 -- Generative artificial intelligence is changing daily experiences and reshaping how consumers interact with brands, with digital trust becoming increasingly important, according to the latest research report by global management consulting giant Accenture.

The acceleration of GenAI content into all places where people have traditionally discovered, socialized, and shopped online is causing trust issues and fueling hesitation, according to Accenture Life Trends 2025. GenAI's ability to facilitate hyper-personalized harm and harassment, deepfakes, and scams has also become a serious problem.

The Accenture Life Trends 2025 reveals shifting consumer behaviors and trust patterns. It is based on interviews with designers, sociologists, technologists, and anthropologists from over 50 global design studios and creative agencies and an online survey of 24,295 people across 22 markets.

The report highlights that consumer hesitation affects search, sharing, shopping, and social behaviors.

"As human-technology relationships grow more complex, trust and humanity become paramount as enterprises adopt new technologies to drive business growth and user engagement," Christine Wang, managing director at Accenture Song Lead China, told Yicai.

Chinese consumers show less skepticism toward online content than globally, with 36 percent of them questioning authenticity and 38 percent doubting news credibility, versus the global 47 percent and 49 percent, respectively, said Deng Ling, senior researcher at Accenture Research. However, 38 percent of Chinese respondents find online shopping chaotic, higher than the global average of 25 percent.

Brands should maintain long-term perspectives, build trustworthy and exclusive content, and leverage social listening tools to monitor and remove false information while establishing emotional connections with consumers, Wang suggested.

Chinese consumers have distinct characteristics, as 77 percent prefer quick solutions, compared to the 55 percent global average. In addition, 43 percent of them regularly watch movies or listen to podcasts at faster speeds, compared to only 31 percent globally.

Chinese consumers are also more engaged with social media, as 41 percent share problem-solving videos online, versus 23 percent globally. The survey also shows that 70 percent of Chinese seek lifestyle inspiration from short-video site Douyin, placing it above family and friends as an information source.

"Brands should evolve from content providers to content accelerators" by tapping consumers' tendency to seek shortcuts and cultivating user habits, Wang said. For example, fitness app Keep promotes a daily habit challenge to encourage users to build fitness routines, and language-learning platform Duolingo motivates users with its consecutive days feature.

The report also indicates a growing desire for meaningful offline experiences, with 49 percent of Chinese respondents choosing offline activities for health benefits. More than half of them opt for a combination of physical and digital experiences.

Wang suggested brands take advantage of consumers' eagerness to share by building communities, creating social healing spaces, and developing omnichannel interactions to meet both emotional and practical consumer needs in this rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Editor: Futura Costaglione