Broken Sites, Broken Trust: 75% of Visitors Will Flee to a Competitor When a Site Feels Unsafe

Everyday browsing now happens against a louder backdrop of risk. News about phishing, fake shopping sites, and stolen credentials is constant, and convincing lookalike pages are easier to launch than ever. People often arrive from links in email or social posts, then encounter tiny visual or behavioral mismatches that feel like warnings. A page that loads oddly, a domain that looks a little different, or an unexpected pop-up no longer feels like a harmless glitch.

The Liferay 2026 Broken Trust Report focuses on those small, real moments that determine whether a user continues browsing a website or stops. The study examines what people do when something feels off and what makes an experience feel legitimate and safe enough to continue.

“Customers are cautious for good reason,” said Bryan Cheung, CMO at Liferay. “They encounter scams everywhere, so small mismatches read as a risk. Trust is decided in seconds by what the page does and the signals it shows.”

Liferay, a leading provider of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs), partnered with the third-party survey platform Pollfish in December 2025 to survey 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older across regions and demographics. Respondents shared recent experiences with suspicious or “off” moments, what they did next, and which signals made digital journeys feel safe enough to continue.

Key Findings

• The One-Strike Trust Economy: Digital trust is fragile; 61% of respondents report that a single “off” moment on a website changes how much they trust the brand.
• Reliability is the New Credibility: 71% of respondents said website reliability is a major factor in whether they trust the company overall.
• The Competitor Escape Hatch: If a site feels unsafe or behaves strangely, 75% of respondents said they would switch to a competitor to finish their task.
• An Immediate Instinct to Flee: When a page looks different or behaves oddly, 40% of respondents immediately question its safety, while 28% simply leave the site right away.
• Big Brands Aren’t Safe: Fame is no shield; 91% of respondents believe even major, well-known brands can fall victim to fake or compromised websites.

The Cautious Customer: Tiny Mistakes Stop Users Fast

When a familiar site behaves strangely, people move quickly to protect themselves. 40% immediately question whether the site is safe, 29% slow down and pay closer attention, 28% leave right away, and 4% barely notice it. This is what “cautious by default” looks like in practice. 

The specific signals that trigger caution are well defined. 39% point to a browser warning, 19% to a slightly different URL, and 18% to unexpected pop-ups. Asked to name the fastest way to lose trust, 32% choose “the address looks slightly different.” Domain continuity and predictable behavior carry the most weight.

This caution comes from the wider environment people live in every day: 64% of respondents say phishing emails have made them more careful, 49% cite strange texts, and 36% cite fake shopping sites. Because people are already primed by these outside threats, even a small website or app glitch makes them wary and more likely to back out. When something looks off on a website, 29% think malware might be involved, 27% think they are being tricked, and 24% think the company site is not secure. As for how scams most often begin, 48% single out clicking a suspicious link.

One Odd Moment Resets Brand Trust, and Reliability Now Carries Credibility

A single glitch often triggers a reassessment of the brand. 61% say one odd moment changes how much they trust the company behind the site. 71% say the site’s reliability is a major factor in whether the company itself feels trustworthy. In effect, stability on the page now functions as evidence of credibility. The practical response follows directly from this: reduce asset errors, prevent layout shifts, and fix inconsistencies before they ship. If an issue reaches visitors, a brief message that explains what happened and what changed helps restore confidence.

Security Warnings Drive Immediate Exits, Especially Among Older Users

Security warnings end sessions for many users. Faced with a browser security warning on a site they have used before, the majority (47%) of respondents leave immediately. 29% search online to see if others are reporting similar issues, 12% contact the brand, 8% try again from a different device, and only 4% continue onto the site. 75% agree that unexpected behavior could be unsafe. These results explain why short-lived certificate issues or flagged scripts can produce drops in sessions that are disproportionate to the underlying defect. Exit rates rise with age: 38% of Gen Z and 37% of Millennials leave immediately after a warning, compared with 46% of Gen X, 58% of Boomers, and 70% of the Silent Generation. This makes the risk especially relevant in industries such as healthcare, benefits, and financial services, where users often perform sensitive tasks like viewing lab results, checking claims, or paying bills.

Fame Buys Attention, Not Trust, When Visuals or Behavior Deviate

Brand recognition helps but does not settle the question of safety. 91% of respondents say that even big, well-known brands can still look fake or unsafe. When asked how they would respond to a well-known store’s site that loads incorrectly—missing images, shifting layout, or buttons moving—29% said they’d leave right away, 28% said they’d assume it isn’t safe, and 22% said they’d suspect they clicked on the fake version of the site. Avoidance of unfamiliar sites is also common, with 91% of respondents reporting that they avoid unfamiliar domains at least some of the time.

Risk Cues Stall Transactions and Push Users to Buy Elsewhere

Intent to switch is widespread when a site feels unsafe or glitchy. Under those conditions, 69% of respondents report that they have stopped a purchase they wanted to complete due to scam concerns, and 75% say they would switch to a competitor to complete the same task or make the same purchase. Purchase halts are most common among younger users. 78% of respondents 18 to 24 say they have stopped a transaction due to fear, compared with 64% of adults 65+.

After feeling that they almost fell for a scam, 47% of respondents feel annoyed, 47% relieved, 45% angry, and 42% frustrated. That emotional mix helps explain why recovery is hard even when no money was lost.

Plain Communication and Consistent Design Re-Establish Safety

Website reliability is a consistent trust driver across generations. Between 68% and 72% of Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers state that a reliable website is a major reason to trust a company. People are specific about what helps after a worrying moment. 47% prefer a clear, visible message that explains what happened and what was fixed. Yet 11% say nothing would help rebuild their trust. People also point to a clear set of reassurance signals, ranked in this order: security badges first, a well-known brand name second, a consistent design third. These are subtle checks people make without even realizing it.

“Brand recognition is only the starting point,” said Cheung. “People re-check authenticity the second something looks off, and that moment decides whether they stay on a site. That puts website behavior at the center of trust and, by extension, at the center of revenue.”
 

Practical Recommendations on How to Reduce Exits, Prevent Abandonment, and Restore Confidence:

1. Stabilize the surface and aim for zero warnings on critical pages. Keep certificates valid, enforce HSTS, and block assets or scripts that could trigger warnings.
    
2. Prove authenticity on every visit. Maintain domain continuity through login and payment, minimize redirects, and govern components so layouts and copy render consistently.
    
3. Lower perceived scam risk at checkout. Remove surprise pop-ups and cross-domain hops, keep cart and authentication on the page, and add short safety signals beside action buttons. For example, place “Secure sign in” next to the Sign in button, “Your data is protected” next to Submit, and “Secure checkout” next to Pay.
    
4. Communicate clearly when something goes wrong. Publish a brief, visible message that states what happened, what changed, and that normal behavior is restored.
    
5. Adapt fixes by generation. For Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, prioritize eliminating browser warning screens to prevent website exits. For Gen Z and Millennials, remove "scam-like" patterns such as pop-ups, cross-domain redirects, and extra checkout steps, since these cues are more likely to halt a purchase.

Across sectors, users treat consistency as a safety signal. When the experience deviates from what they expect, many choose to protect themselves by exiting the site. Clear patterns in the data point to practical steps: prevent the cues that appear risky, keep domains and components predictable, and explain fixes in plain language. When the site looks and behaves as expected, people complete their objective—logging in, submitting a form, or paying for an order. Trust is a live decision made in the moment, and it shows up in what people do next: finish the task or leave.

Survey Methodology

Liferay used the third-party survey platform Pollfish to conduct an online survey in December 2025 of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18+. Respondents were drawn from a broad national sample across regions and demographics. Researchers reviewed all responses for quality control. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, and totals may not sum to 100% where multiple selections were allowed.