One-third of brands will damage trust with AI self-service in 2026

On October 28, 2025, Forrester released predictions for B2C marketing, customer experience, and digital business that paint a sobering picture for 2026. According to the research firm, one-third of companies will erode brand trust and customer experience through premature deployment of generative AI chatbots and virtual agents. The pressure to reduce operational costs will drive organizations to implement customer-facing AI systems in contexts where failure is likely, damaging both acquisition and retention metrics.

The timing matters. Marketing platforms have accelerated their AI agent deployments throughout 2025. Adobe launched AI agents for business customer experience automation on September 10, while Sprinklr introduced similar capabilities on September 29. Google unveiled comprehensive AI advertising tools at Think Week 2025, introducing agentic systems that learn about advertiser businesses to provide personalized optimization recommendations.

However, Forrester's analysis suggests many implementations will backfire. The firm's chief research officer, Sharyn Leaver, stated that measures such as enhancing personalization that prioritizes relevance and value will be "table stakes for brands to earn their customers' loyalty" in 2026. The predictions indicate that tolerance for surface-level efforts is fading among consumers who have elevated their expectations.

Display advertising faces 30% budget reduction

The open web will experience significant contraction in 2026. According to Forrester, advertisers will cut display ad budgets by 30% as consumers increasingly turn to AI-generated summaries and chat interfaces designed to return immediate answers. This migration will shrink addressable audiences on traditional websites, driving down click-through rates across the board.

Leading advertisers will redirect this spending toward entertainment-driven content platforms. Connected TV, streaming audio, and social video will absorb budgets previously allocated to display formats on the open web. The shift accelerates trends already visible in market data. Google's internal figures show that only 11 percent of display advertising impressions purchased by AdWords advertisers were for open-web display in January 2025, down from over 40 percent in January 2019.

The decline reflects fundamental changes in how consumers gather information. Recent research indicates over 1 billion people now use standalone generative AI tools every month, with ChatGPT alone reaching 800 million weekly users in early October 2025. Traditional search engine usage has declined as only 80 percent of online adults now use conventional search engines monthly.

Privacy breaches drive 20% surge in class-action lawsuits

AI-driven privacy violations will trigger a sharp increase in legal action. Forrester predicts a 20% surge in US consumer class-action lawsuits targeting AI applications and the companies deploying them. The convergence of growing privacy awareness, expanding regulation, data breaches, and AI adoption creates conditions for increased litigation.

Privacy concerns have challenged the AI industry throughout 2025. Consumers and law firms will broaden their focus beyond tracking pixels to encompass AI applications themselves. The lawsuits will erode trust and drain company resources, forcing marketers to work more closely with privacy teams to build positive relationships proactively rather than responding to legal threats.

The regulatory environment has tightened considerably. European data protection authorities adopted Guidelines 3/2025 on September 11, establishing complex compliance requirements where DSA and GDPR obligations intersect. Australia proposed dual-track privacy compliance frameworks in August, fundamentally challenging existing reform proposals by focusing on whether data use serves individual best interests rather than mere consent mechanisms.

Consumer preference shifts to offline brand experiences

Digital fatigue will drive behavioral changes in 2026. According to Forrester, one-third of consumers will actively choose offline brand experiences over online alternatives. The firm's 2025 data shows that 52% of US online adults already pursue in-person, tactile experiences driven by desires for richer, more sensory interactions that digital channels cannot replicate.

This trend extends beyond temporary pandemic recovery patterns. Agreement with statements about planning more in-person shopping during winter holiday shopping season increased seven percentage points in 2025 versus 2023 in the US. The share of in-person shoppers demonstrates comparable patterns internationally, reaching even higher levels in markets such as Hong Kong and Australia.

Brands are already responding to this shift. Starbucks plans to phase out drive-through and mobile-only stores in 2026. TikTok is adding features that enable college students to meet up in person. Coach will launch 20-plus Coach Coffee Shops globally, all in service of in-person connections. Digital experiences will persist, but consumers in 2026 will more intentionally disconnect online to connect offline. Marketers should reconcile budgets to bolster offline consumer interactions, as in-person experiences present stickier impressions that cannot be scrolled past or swiped away.

Customer experience teams abandon journey mapping

Two-thirds of CX teams will abandon journey mapping in 2026 due to self-inflicted stigma, according to Forrester. The firm's research indicates that managing customer journeys remains valuable, as companies such as Nedbank and Nissan have demonstrated. Yet most CX teams don't manage journeys—they only map them.

The disconnect creates organizational friction. Only 30% of CX decision-makers report that their CX teams possess the skills to create high-quality maps. Most journey owners reside on CX teams rather than in business units or teams, leaving maps disconnected from business decision-making tools and processes.

CX teams can overcome this stigma through journey management that solves real business problems in customer-focused ways. Forrester recommends building strawman journey atlases, prioritizing lighthouse journeys, blending ad hoc and permanent journey teams, and creating central budgets to fund breakthrough improvements.

Agency consolidation accelerates as M&A pressures mount

A major acquisition will trigger extensive agency reviews in 2026. Forrester predicts that either Havas will acquire dentsu's international operations or WPP will restructure for sale to private equity or Accenture. Either scenario will push marketers to review agency assignments across three- and five-year contracts.

The predictions note that 85% of US B2C marketing executives plan to review their media agencies in 2026. Six major brands reviewed media assignments in 2021, and 20 conducted reviews in 2023. Omnicom's acquisition of IPG serves as the first indication of industry consolidation. Marketing executives considering agency reviews in 2026 should start by identifying agency operating models that best meet their priorities and budgets.

Major brands will unify agentic commerce experiences

Five major brands will unify agentic commerce experiences in 2026, according to Forrester. Unification represents a persistent problem in commerce technology, forcing vendors to rethink how they build and connect vital ecosystem pieces.

Nestlé is developing its own conversational AI platform to combine shopping, promotions, and customer service in a single conversational experience. The company acted because it didn't see vendors combining processes with ready-to-use components. A handful of powerhouse brands with similar resources will follow suit.

The challenge for brands in 2026 centers on interoperability as vendors launch isolated conversational agents that pull only from proprietary data. Even model context protocol servers that unify agents and data remain served separately by each vendor. These siloed AI tools will create disjointed customer experiences.

Industry observers note this pattern reflects broader transparency challenges in programmatic advertising that emerged in 2025, where technical fragmentation undermined ecosystem efficiency. The coordination challenges between standards and implementation organizations parallel what brands face with AI vendor ecosystems.

Trust and value become guiding principles

The underlying message across all predictions emphasizes that disconnected strategies and performative personalization will no longer earn customer loyalty. Leaders must prioritize transparency, relevance, and measurable impact. Organizations that deliver real value and earn trust through that process will pull ahead in a landscape shaped by scrutiny, substance, and strategic clarity.

For marketing professionals, the predictions suggest 2026 will separate organizations committed to customer-centric AI implementation from those rushing to deploy technology without adequate preparation. The 30% display ad budget cuts will force strategic reconsideration of channel mix. The 20% increase in privacy lawsuits will make proactive compliance essential. The shift toward offline experiences will require budget reallocation toward physical touchpoints.

The predictions arrive as broader industry trends support Forrester's analysis. IAB research released in September 2025 shows that 86% of buyers currently use or plan to implement generative AI for video advertisement creation by 2026. McKinsey analysis from July 2025 identified agentic AI as the most significant emerging trend for marketing organizations, with $1.1 billion in equity investment flowing into this technology during 2024.

The convergence of rapid AI adoption with declining consumer trust creates risks for organizations that prioritize cost reduction over experience quality. Forrester's predictions suggest that 2026 will reveal which companies successfully balanced automation with authentic customer relationships—and which ones damaged their brands through premature technology deployment.

Timeline

• October 28, 2025 - Forrester releases 2026 B2C Marketing, CX, and Digital Business predictions
• January 21, 2026 - Forrester scheduled to host webinar unpacking B2C trends for the year ahead
• 2026 - Anticipated major holding company acquisition (Havas-dentsu or WPP restructuring)
• 2026 - Implementation timeline for offline brand experience shift
• Related: Adobe launches AI agents for business customer experience automation (September 10, 2025)
• Related: Google unveils comprehensive AI advertising suite at Think Week 2025 (September 10, 2025)
• Related: Sprinklr introduces AI agents and copilot capabilities for CX platforms (September 29, 2025)
• Related: IAB releases AI use case map for advertising professionals (September 2025)
• Related: McKinsey: AI agents reshape advertising landscape (July 27, 2025)
• Related: Google warns open web advertising faces rapid decline amid breakup demands (September 5, 2025)
• Related: Social media reaches 68.7% of global population as AI use surpasses 1 billion (October 15, 2025)
• Related: Australia proposes dual track privacy compliance for digital advertisers (August 6, 2025)

Summary

Who: Forrester Research released predictions affecting B2C marketers, customer experience professionals, digital business leaders, and consumers. The analysis comes from the firm's team led by Chief Research Officer Sharyn Leaver, examining how organizations will navigate AI adoption, privacy challenges, and changing consumer behaviors.

What: The predictions forecast that one-third of companies will harm customer experiences through premature AI deployment, advertisers will cut display ad budgets by 30%, AI-driven privacy breaches will increase class-action lawsuits by 20%, one-third of consumers will prefer offline brand experiences, two-thirds of CX teams will abandon journey mapping, and major agency acquisitions will trigger widespread reviews. Five major brands will unify agentic commerce experiences in response to fragmented vendor ecosystems.

When: Forrester published the predictions on October 28, 2025, for the 2026 calendar year. A webinar scheduled for January 21, 2026, will provide additional guidance for implementing strategies based on these forecasts. The predictions build on market conditions that developed throughout 2025, including accelerated AI agent deployments by major platforms and declining open web advertising performance.

Where: The predictions apply to B2C markets globally but focus particularly on US consumer behaviors, advertising markets, and regulatory environments. The analysis considers international patterns including European privacy regulations, Australian compliance frameworks, and global AI adoption rates. The forecasts address both digital channels experiencing decline (open web display) and growing formats (connected TV, streaming audio, social video).

Why: Consumer expectations have risen while tolerance for superficial efforts has declined. The AI implementation rush driven by cost-cutting pressures conflicts with the time required for proper deployment. Privacy awareness has increased amid high-profile breaches and expanding regulation. Digital fatigue has intensified following years of screen-heavy pandemic behaviors. Open web display advertising faces structural challenges from AI-powered search alternatives and entertainment platform growth. These forces combine to create conditions where trust and tangible value delivery will determine competitive outcomes in 2026.