Is the on-again, off-again romance between Americans and U.S. business on again? In 2002, a survey by Golin/Harris found that american business was in a free-fall, with 70% of
Americans saying they didn't know whom to trust anymore. Now, new research by Golin/Harris and InsightExpress suggests that nearly 37% of Americans applaud U.S. business for
starting to rebuild trust, while 17% still believe that business is heading in the wrong direction. Some other nuggets from the study:
- 46% of Americans now believe CEOs are doing the right things to restore trust, up from 8% in August 2002.
- 39% say they would start or increase their business with a company specifically because of trust, while 53% say they would stop, reduce or switch their business to a
competitor because they have concerns about a company's trust. - 53% believe business has learned its lesson, will be more trustworthy in the future.