Driven by the economic downturn, interest in public trust on the part of researchers, pundits and PR executives is up. And so are the numbers in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer report, but only slightly.
The report traces the highs and lows of public trust in a number of categories, and last year’s report was definitely a downer, as global trust in business sunk to historic lows. The 2010 report, however, finds a modest rise of trust in business, underscored by the finding that 71% of Americans now say they trust global companies headquartered in the United States, an increase of 11 points from last year’s survey. But PR practitioners shouldn’t get overly optimistic about these findings.
“The good news is there’s some recovery of trust in business,” says Matt Harrington, CEO and president of Edelman U.S. “The bad news is people are skeptical of the direction business is going to take once the economy recovers.”
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| Pessimistic Public: An average of 70% of respondents globally believe business will return to its “old ways,” engendering distrust.Chart courtesy of Edelman |
TRUST TENUOUS
Indeed, the survey conducted at the end of 2009 of nearly 5,000 “informed publics” (college educated, higher income, well-read people, ages 25-64) finds that while respondents were a bit more trusting in business, an average of 70% globally expect business and financial companies to revert to “business as usual” after the recession (see chart for breakdown by country).
Business returning to its “old ways” is an idea that Michael McDougall, VP of corporate communications and public affairs at Bausch & Lomb, rejects. “Having observed just how far the recession has forced many businesses to change at their very core in order to remain competitive, I’m not sure the new ‘usual’ will be anything like the old ‘usual,’” says McDougall. He adds that the biggest challenge for PR will be effectively and repeatedly relating this story to skeptical journalists, regulators and other third parties who may otherwise assume a return to the excesses of the past. “It will be all the more vital for communicators to position transgressions as exceptions, and to actively and explicitly tell stories about the ‘new normal’ of post-recession business operations,” he says.
Giving report findings, PR executives in the banking industry will have the toughest road on which to travel. Banking is the only business sector that decreased in trust this year. Since 2007, trust in banks has dramatically declined in most Western countries, with U.S. banks seeing the steepest drop—39 points.
The auto industry actually saw a slight improvement in trust, but results for next year could be different with the Toyota crisis in full bloom. “I’m sure if we took a snapshot now, we’d see more erosion in that category,” says Harrington.
REPUTATION FACTORS CHANGING
And just what engenders trust? In 2006, “quality products and services” was the top factor that shaped trust in companies. In 2010, it’s “transparent and honest practices.” In the U.S. and throughout much of Western Europe, trust and transparency rank higher than product quality and much higher than financial returns, which sits near the bottom in all regions. This means that PR needs to take multiple messaging paths in its stakeholder engagement.
MEDIA CONTINUES SLIDE
Just who do we trust most for information? It’s certainly not traditional media. Over the past two years, the report finds that trust in TV news has decreased more than 20 points in the U.S. Only 34% find newspaper articles credible sources of information (while corporate communications credibility stands at 32%).
The report goes on to suggest that organizations need to engage all stakeholders everywhere, cultivate a wide circle of expert spokespeople, use a variety of channels to get their messages out and continue with socially responsible actions to advance the common good. PRN
CONTACT:
Matt Harrington, [email protected]; Michael McDougall, [email protected].