No guarantee that budgets will be intact if the case for events building trust lacks proof. Photo Credit: iStock/Lari Bat
Event marketers are overwhelmingly confident that their programmes are building audience trust, while conceding they lack the measurement frameworks needed to prove it, according to new research commissioned by Cvent.
Confidence needs back up
The survey of 901 marketing and event professionals across 12 countries found that 96% believe their current marketing activity is successfully building trust with target audiences. More than four in five (81%) said trust in their brand increases after customers attend one of their in-person events.
Yet beneath that confidence lies a significant measurement gap. Only 28% of respondents said they have a robust framework for measuring the impact of events on trust, while nearly half (49%) acknowledged that their existing approach requires improvement.
The findings come as event teams face mounting pressure to justify spending and demonstrate business outcomes. Nine in 10 respondents said their event programmes face high levels of scrutiny when it comes to proving return on investment.
According to Amy Lucia, chief marketing officer at Cvent, the disconnect between confidence and measurement could become a challenge as organisations increasingly demand evidence of business value.
“Event marketers are doing something remarkable. They're building real, lasting trust with their audiences at a time when trust has never been harder to earn,” she said. “But confidence without measurement is a recipe for reduced budgets and missed opportunities.”
AI content threatens trust
The research also highlights a growing divide between marketers' own comfort with artificial intelligence and their perceptions of audience sentiment.
While 87% of respondents said increased use of AI has made them more confident in AI-generated content, 85% simultaneously agreed that the rise of such content has made it harder to build trust with audiences.
Marketers cited audience concerns over authenticity and accuracy as key drivers of scepticism. Thirty per cent said consumers increasingly question whether content is genuinely created by humans, while 29% pointed to growing doubts about the reliability of information.
In fact, generic or AI-generated content was identified as the greatest threat to audience trust, cited by 27% of respondents. That figure exceeded concerns about a lack of human interaction at events, which was selected by 19%.
The findings suggest that as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, marketers are placing greater value on face-to-face experiences as a way to establish credibility and strengthen relationships.
Nearly all respondents (98%) said in-person and community-based events are an important part of their marketing strategy, reinforcing the role of live experiences as brands navigate increasing misinformation risks and fragmented media environments.
“AI saturation is contributing to rising audience scepticism, changing the environment in which we've traditionally built trust with audiences,” said Felicia Asiedu, marketing director at Cvent. “What matters now is bringing together the magic of events marketing with the science needed to drive better, more measurable results.”
At the same time, AI adoption continues to accelerate. More than two-fifths (43%) of organisations are scaling their use of AI, while 37% are actively experimenting with the technology. Nine in 10 respondents reported increased use of AI-generated content over the past year, although 35% said transparency about AI use will be critical to maintaining audience trust.