What’s happening:

Shoppers are relying on product certifications as a shorthand for trust, especially in categories where safety, health, or performance matter. Certifications serve as a way to simplify complex decisions in crowded aisles, helping people feel more confident about what they’re bringing into their homes. At the same time, attention to certifications varies widely by type, and many consumers say the impact depends on what the label represents, suggesting that not all certifications carry equal weight. Underneath it all is a desire for clarity: people notice labels, but they want to understand what they actually guarantee.

What we found:

  • The certifications people notice most are health-related labels (53%), quality/performance certifications (47%), and environmental or sustainability labels (42%).
  • Half of consumers (51%) say the influence of a certification depends on the type, while 28% trust products more and are more likely to buy them when a certification is present.
  • To increase confidence in the utility of certifications, consumers want to have clear explanations of what safety tests were performed (45%) and seeing the certification more prominently on the packaging (43%).
  • Nearly 1 in 3 shoppers (32%) have decided not to buy a product because it lacked a certification they cared about.

Why it matters:

Certifications are functioning as a key trust signal in the shopping journey. People are using them to sort safer, healthier, and more reliable products from those that feel uncertain or unverified. But the impact hinges on whether shoppers understand what the label stands for and why it matters. Clear explanations, visible labeling, and proof of testing help strengthen that confidence. When certifications are easy to interpret and tied to meaningful benefits, they become an important differentiator, especially in categories where performance and safety are hard for shoppers to judge on their own.

(N=961, MoE ±3.2%, 95% CI,

Data Collected: October 31 – November 2 2025)

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