What Generation Alpha reveals about trust in a post-social media world
Opinion
Generation Alpha may discover brands through search, social media and online video, but trust remains rooted in human relationships, according to research from the7stars.
Every time policymakers float restrictions on children’s access to social media, parents rejoice, and marketers panic in equal measure. For marketers, the immediate questions are: How do we reach Generation Alpha? Where will influence come from? And what happens if social media is no longer the primary gateway to the next generation of consumers?
It’s an understandable reaction. Generation Alpha is the largest cohort in history, estimated at 2.5bn globally (WGSN, 2025), and the first generation to grow up entirely in a digital-first world. For marketers, social platforms have become the default route to reaching this audience.
But perhaps the debate starts from the wrong assumption.
It assumes that the places where Generation Alpha discover brands are also the places where trust is built. Our latest research among 11–15-year-olds suggests otherwise.
The findings point to a simple but important distinction: being discovered and being believed are not the same thing.
Generation Alpha may discover brands through search, social media and online video, but trust remains rooted in human relationships. Parents and friends still carry more influence over purchasing decisions than platforms, creators, or AI. That distinction matters.
Awareness and trust
As an industry, we’ve become exceptionally good at understanding discovery. Algorithms anticipate our interests before we articulate them, creators shape culture in real time, and AI increasingly mediates everything from search to shopping. The tools available to drive awareness have never been more sophisticated.
Yet awareness and trust don’t necessarily operate in the same way.
When young people were asked where they go to find out about products and brands, online search ranked highest, followed by friends and YouTube reviews. Parents were further down the list.
However, when asked who they trust when making decisions, the picture flipped dramatically. Parents emerged as the most trusted source, with friends also ranking highly. Social media influencers, AI and platforms themselves fell much lower down the hierarchy.
Many parents will recognise the pattern. Children increasingly arrive at the dinner table having already researched products, compared options and formed opinions of their own. But the decisions that matter are still discussed, debated and validated together. Discovery may begin online, but the decisions that matter are still validated much closer to home, through trusted human relationships.
That has important implications for marketers as governments continue to debate restrictions on children’s social media use. If platforms primarily fuel discovery rather than trust, then a changing regulatory landscape should not simply be viewed as a loss of reach.
Instead, it reminds us that credibility has always been built differently from attention.
Technology has democratised expertise, expanded choice and opened up new avenues for exploration. But while information has become abundant, certainty has become scarcer.
Growing up surrounded by an endless stream of recommendations, reviews and opinions may make trusted human relationships even more valuable. The challenge is no longer finding answers – it’s deciding which answers to believe.
Generation Alpha therefore reveals an interesting paradox. They are undoubtedly digital-first when it comes to discovery, yet they continue to place significant value on trusted human relationships and real-world experiences when making decisions.
Trust increasingly plays out within families
Our research found that 79% of Generation Alpha have a high level of influence within their household. Far from simply accepting decisions made for them, they actively participate in household decision-making.
At the same time, parents appear increasingly open to this influence. Around two-thirds (65%) say they take their children’s opinions into account when making purchasing decisions, and 60% believe their relationships with their children are more collaborative than those they experienced growing up.
Household decisions increasingly feel less like parents making decisions for children and more like conversations. That presents an opportunity for brands.
Rather than viewing potential social media restrictions simply as a challenge to overcome, marketers should think about how they show up across the full customer journey. Digital plays an important role in discovery, but brands also need to create experiences and conversations that help families discuss, validate and make decisions together.
Brands that support those moments of shared decision-making may ultimately create deeper trust than those focused solely on winning attention.
The implication is not that brands should retreat from digital spaces. They still need to show up wherever audiences discover and engage.
But marketers do need to be cautious about assuming that attention automatically translates into trust.
The brands that succeed will be those that recognise the difference. Reach can be bought. Impressions can be optimised. Discovery can be engineered. Trust cannot. It has to be earned through credibility, authenticity and consistent behaviour.
Generation Alpha may be revealing something that extends far beyond one generation. In a world where discovery is increasingly frictionless, trust itself may become one of the few remaining competitive advantages.
Technology will continue to transform how people discover brands. But trust, at its core, remains remarkably human.
Helen Rose is a managing partner at the7stars