Multiple voices reshape credibility in the beauty industry
Beauty purchase decisions no longer depend on a single source: consumers combine recommendations from creators, opinions from dermatologists, specialized media, and experiences from other users.
Authority in the beauty and wellness industry is no longer concentrated in a single voice; it is now distributed among specialized media, dermatologists, creators, communities, and consumers. This transformation is changing how brands build credibility before purchase.
According to Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Beauty Survey, the sources that influence purchasing decisions vary across generations: Gen Z is more influenced by digital media, while Millennials rely more heavily on medical professionals.
Data from the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) shows that dermatologists continue to play a central role in decisions related to cosmetic procedures and skincare.
At the same time, 94% of respondents use ratings and review sites when choosing a provider, according to a survey of more than 3,500 consumers.
In practice, the shift does not mean that one source has replaced another, but rather that consumers turn to different voices to answer different questions within the same decision.
For Germán Romero, Business Development Director Beauty at strategic communications agency another, this scenario poses a challenge for brands:
“Beauty has entered a stage in which trust is no longer won through a single voice. A dermatologist can build scientific authority, a creator can translate it into everyday life, and a community can confirm — or question — the promise through real experience. The risk for brands lies in managing these conversations as separate worlds. When each voice tells a different story, fragmentation stops generating influence and begins to erode credibility. The brands that will lead this new stage will be those that manage to build a narrative solid enough to be interpreted by many voices without losing its truth.”
From editorial coverage to an ecosystem of authority.
This transformation broadens the way brands understand Earned Media. Editorial coverage continues to provide value, but it no longer represents the entire credibility journey on its own.
A specialized article can provide context and legitimacy; a dermatologist, technical knowledge; a creator, a translation of product benefits into everyday situations; and reviews, comments, and UGC allow those promises to be tested against real experiences.
The opportunity lies in understanding the role of each voice, rather than asking all of them to reproduce the same message. This also challenges the traditional division between public relations, influencer marketing, social media, and content.
When each discipline operates in isolation, the brand can end up building multiple versions of itself for a consumer who encounters all of those expressions on the same screen.
Influence continues after publication.
The shift also has commercial consequences, as discovery, conversation, and purchase are increasingly connected. NielsenIQ, in its State of Beauty analysis, notes that online beauty sales are growing nine times faster than in-store sales and highlights the growing importance of social commerce and platforms such as TikTok Shop in the category.
Therefore, a mention should not be evaluated solely by its immediate reach. What happens afterward also matters: whether it generates searches, conversation, third-party validation, organic content, or new recommendations.
The evolution of the concept of Earned Media can be summed up in one distinction: visibility can be bought; credibility has to be earned.
For the expert at regional agency another, this distinction will define the next level of maturity in influence strategies:
“The next major indicator of influence in beauty will not be how many people a brand hired to talk about it, but how many conversations it managed to spark beyond its investment. When a specialist recommends, a community debates, a consumer shares their experience, and other creators pick up the conversation without being part of the original plan, the brand stops buying visibility and begins building cultural relevance. That is the point today’s Earned Media strategies should aspire to: creating enough authority for the conversation to grow on its own.”
For beauty brands, the challenge is to connect different forms of credibility, understanding what each contributes and how it contributes to a shared narrative.
In a market overflowing with recommendations, products, and content, getting someone to talk about a brand is only the beginning. Building trust in that conversation is where true influence begins.
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