Six-figure earners trust influencer recommendations more, a Morning Consult survey finds

The step from this survey to a media budget has three links. The account supports one of them. Higher earners report more trust: 61% against about half of lower earners ^[2][3], a gap of roughly 11 points if "about half" means 50% ^[9]. They were also more likely to shop influencers' recommendations ^[4]. The second link, how often trust becomes a purchase, and the third, what a purchase is worth against what the creator cost, are the ones a budget depends on. Entrepreneur's write-up of the survey does not include purchase rates, the size of the over-$100,000 subgroup or a margin of error ^[1].

The people quoted explain the gap as relatability, and all of them work in the creator business. Jen Worman, a lifestyle influencer who has posted for over 15 years, puts her audience's average income at around $100,000 ^[13]. "I do think people who are more able to relate to you are more willing to add to cart," she said ^[12]. Amanda Acevedo, director of talent at G&B Digital Management, said: "The general population online knows creators make good money for themselves" ^[14]. Natalie Barbu, founder of the social media management platform Rella and a former lifestyle influencer, said that when you are making more money, "you don't view them as out of touch because you can relate to it a bit more" ^[15]. Acevedo also suggested that followers with more money to spare may relate more readily to the creators they watch ^[16]. These are interview opinions about why the gap exists.

Payments are moving the other way from the typical creator. CreatorIQ's January data put the top 1% of creators at 21% of ad payment volume in 2025, up from 15% in 2023 ^[6], a six-point rise ^[11]. The top 10% gained nine points ^[10]. Entrepreneur reads the rising average and falling median as top creators lifting the average while the typical creator earns less ^[8].

The two datasets measure different things. CreatorIQ counts payments to creators on its platform ^[5], and the survey counts attitudes among US adults ^[1]. Joining them would take a third dataset: audience income by creator. If followers buy from people they see themselves in, as Worman says, we do not yet know whether the creators collecting a growing share of the money have affluent audiences.

A brand that commits this quarter's budget on trust figures alone will see purchase data next quarter, after the money is spent. In our view the survey justifies setting aside a test slice for creators who skew affluent and comparing their sales per dollar with the other creators', while the bulk of the line stays put for now.