Global Study: Social Is Reshaping the Path to Purchase as Consumers Embrace Short-Form Video and Human Influencers

DoubleVerify’s report highlights social media’s growing influence on purchase decisions and ad strategies.

What the company is saying

DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV) is positioning itself as a thought leader by releasing its 2026 Global Insights Report, which is based on surveys of 22,000 consumers and 2,020 marketers. The company emphasizes that social and walled garden platforms are now central to the customer journey, with CEO Mark Zagorski stating that advertisers need more clarity on the effectiveness of their investments. The announcement highlights specific consumer behaviors: 26% use social media to research products, 25% have purchased via social in the past year, and 38% say social ads can prompt purchases. The report also details regional differences, the effectiveness of short-form video ads, and the influence of different types of influencers. Marketers’ challenges are quantified, with 40% citing audience reach as their top issue, though this has declined 12% year over year. DoubleVerify promotes its DV Authentic AdVantage and DV MAP platforms as solutions for advertisers, but does not provide adoption or financial impact data.

What the data suggests

The report’s data shows that social media is an increasingly important channel for both product research (26% globally) and purchases (25% globally), with higher engagement in LATAM (36%) and APAC (30%) than in North America (20%). Short-form video ads are the most effective ad format, prompting 38% of consumers globally to click or purchase, with even higher rates in LATAM (49%) and APAC (47%). Influencer marketing is mainstream, with nearly half of consumers influenced by micro (47%), macro (48%), and mega-influencers (49%), and mega-influencers having the strongest impact in LATAM and APAC (58% each). There is skepticism toward AI-generated influencers, with 37% responding negatively and only 29% positively, though human influencers using AI see a higher positive response (39%). Marketers’ main challenges are reaching target audiences (40%), calculating ROAS/ROI (36%), and keeping up with content trends (35%). The data is robust in terms of sample size and regional breakdowns, but there is no disclosure of DoubleVerify’s own financial performance, client adoption, or product impact.

Analysis

The announcement is primarily a release of DoubleVerify's 2026 Global Insights Report, which is based on large-scale survey data and provides detailed statistics about consumer and marketer behavior on social platforms. The tone is positive and positions DoubleVerify as a thought leader, but the majority of the claims are descriptive of market trends rather than realised business outcomes for DoubleVerify itself. Forward-looking statements about the need for measurement, the value of DV's solutions, and the potential for advertisers to optimize outcomes are present, but there is no disclosure of DoubleVerify's own financial, operational, or adoption metrics. The gap between narrative and evidence lies in the promotional framing of DV's products as solutions to the challenges identified in the survey, without any data on actual client uptake or impact. No large capital outlay or immediate earnings impact is disclosed. The announcement is best viewed as a reputational and market intelligence update, not a signal of realised business progress.

Risk flags

• ●There is a disconnect between the detailed market insights and the absence of DoubleVerify’s own financial or operational performance metrics, making it difficult to assess whether these trends are translating into business growth.
• ●The promotional framing of DV Authentic AdVantage and DV MAP as solutions is not supported by any disclosed adoption rates, client wins, or revenue impact, introducing uncertainty about the commercial traction of these offerings.
• ●The report’s findings are based on survey data, which, while large in scale, may not directly predict actual advertiser spending or DoubleVerify’s future revenue, especially given regional differences and evolving platform dynamics.

Bottom line

This announcement establishes DoubleVerify as a credible source of market intelligence on social media advertising trends, with strong survey data showing the growing influence of social platforms and influencers on consumer behavior. The report quantifies key challenges for marketers and highlights opportunities for advertisers to optimize campaigns, but it does not provide any evidence of DoubleVerify’s own financial or operational gains from these trends. The company’s solutions are promoted as answers to market needs, but without adoption or revenue figures, the practical impact for investors remains unclear. The most actionable takeaway is the scale and immediacy of social media’s role in the purchase journey, rather than any direct signal about DoubleVerify’s business momentum. Investors should look for future disclosures that link these market insights to realized business outcomes.

Announcement summary

(NYSE:DV) DoubleVerify released its 2026 Global Insights Report, Scroll, Stop and Shop: Walled Garden Trends, which analyzes how social and walled garden platforms are evolving into full-funnel channels for advertisers. The report is based on global surveys of 22,000 consumers and 2,020 marketers, as well as additional DoubleVerify data. Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify, stated that social platforms are becoming central to the customer journey and that advertisers need greater clarity into the effectiveness of their investments. The report finds that 26% of consumers globally use social media to research products, and 25% have purchased through social media in the past year. 38% of consumers say seeing an ad on social media can encourage them to purchase from a brand. LATAM consumers are the most likely to use social media for product research at 36%, followed by APAC at 30%, EMEA at 21%, and North America at 20%. Short-form video ads prompt 38% of consumers globally to click or purchase, compared to 31% for long-form video ads and 25% for social feed ads. Short-form video is especially effective in LATAM (49%) and APAC (47%), compared to EMEA (29%) and North America (27%). Nearly half of consumers globally say micro-influencers (47%), macro-influencers (48%), and mega-influencers (49%) influence their purchase decisions, with mega-influencers (1M+ followers) having the most influence. The impact of mega-influencers is strongest in LATAM and APAC (58% each), compared to EMEA (40%) and North America (39%). 37% of consumers respond negatively to brands using AI-generated influencers, while 29% respond positively. Consumers are 10 percentage points more likely to respond positively when human influencers create content with help from AI (39%) than when the influencer itself is AI-generated (29%). 40% of social advertisers cite reaching their target audience as a top challenge, though this figure fell 12% year over year. Calculating ROAS/ROI is the second biggest challenge at 36%, followed by keeping up with content trends (35%), brand suitability and content alignment (34%), and managing campaigns across multiple channels (33%). DoubleVerify offers DV Authentic AdVantage™, a solution to help advertisers measure media quality, protect brand equity, and optimize business outcomes across social media, built on the DV Media AdVantage Platform (DV MAP™), which combines media verification, AI-powered optimization, and campaign outcomes measurement.

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