Well, the global car business is not as trusted as the technology business, according to Edelman’s 2011 Trust Barometer study, but it’s now doing better than any other industry out there. Yes, really. Cars may have taken some lumps over the last several years, but thanks to improvements in auto industry trust in the US and China, it’s now beating everything from telecom to pharmaceuticals to food. Does the auto business deserve that trust? That’s a question for you to answer…
According to Edelman’s survey of 5,075 college-educated people in 23 countries, the following issues are most important developing trust with company:
Finally, for all the advertisers out there, we’ll add another slide which shows that, in the new global economy, online news sources like TTAC are the new drivers of corporate credibility.
And, for some context on what it takes to appear trustworthy in the modern media environment, we’ll conclude with the following slide:
I’m not sure about some of the details of these stats but what it all seems to boil down to is that industries which deliver what people want – such as tech and autos – get a more positive review than those – like banks – which clearly do not.
I don’t put much stock in the Edelman report. Their results are based on a sampling of some 5,000 “informed” respondents who report keeping up with the news and politics on an almost daily basis. Given the last slide shared, showing nearly 60% of respondents correlate repetition on the order of 3-5 times to truthiness, trust, in this case, seems commoditized and inflationary.
Popular media stories of late:
– Economic “recovery.” How many times have we been told the economy has recovered? How many times have we been told the automakers have waged a solid come-back?
– Bi-partisan hackery. How much political press points out how democrats/republicans (ie; our neighbors) are to blame for government ineffectiveness?
It’s an almost constant barrage of information suggesting everything’s all better now on Wall Street, but our equals are ignorant, self-serving dullards. And we’re to believe these industries are somehow more trustworthy? Sorry. Not buying it.
I’d love to see the trust numbers for auto techs or dealerships. To the point here, I don’t buy that trust number either. Aren’t these the same companies that are often taken to task for skirting every rule and regulation that exists in order to maximize profits?
I believe that most people understand that auto technicians are not directly employed by the auto companies, and that dealerships are not directly owned by the company. So any negative feelings toward those two groups probably don’t translate into negative feelings for the company that makes the vehicle.
And given that we have seen what happens when two companies DON’T turn a profit, I’d say that most people realize that “profit” is not a dirty word. They also realize that not all regulations make complete sense. Virtually everyone skirts a rule or regulation on a regular basis…for example, I don’t see too many people driving less than 70 mph on our highways, and Pennsylvania’s speed limit is 65 mph.
Ah yes, “Repetition Implies Believability”, otherwise known as “Shout Loud, Shout Often” and famous for carrying the flag for causes like Intelligent Design.
Or man made global warming.
I don’t believe any of these surveys. What people say and what people do are often two different things. I’m not saying that people deliberately lie, just that they don’t do the things they say they will do.
Remember the article Bertel posted about the small, fuel efficient VW (Lupo?) that isn’t selling well? VWs research told them it would sell well, but the people who responded positively to the surveys didn’t follow through.
I trust my bank to do exactly what they say: pay low interest, charge fees, and keep short hours. I have less trust for tech companies. I expect them to make big promises and under-deliver. I have similar expectations for automotive companies, but to a lesser extent because I can always buy second-hand to avoid cars that were crap from day one.
I find it ironic that although the media has had a field day blasting the banks and insurance companies that they themselves only rate just above them. Also interesting is that energy is much higher that I expected, despite the media presenting them as ‘boogeymen”, and the coverage of the BP oil spill.
I’m not surprised by the results as people generally love cars. I’m just amazed there are as many choices?
I, at least, would rate ‘brewing and spirits’ first.
I trust Apple not to to have purposely excluded simple, relatively inexpensive features such as dual cameras on their first generation iPad, for the sake of planned obsolescence. Then people would have to buy the new model. They wouldn’t do that, would they? They ARE a technology company, you know. You can trust them not to be so sneaky like that. Right? Anyone? *Crickets Chirping*
Trust this or that designated aspect of society?
To what extent is the “media” in all its variations and permutations as the likely conveyor of what humans purvey as being the various sub-sets of society confused as being THOSE sub-sets?
The mass media is generally owned and operated by an elite class AND operated by corporate structures that often own other industries.
I fear the parameters of the Edelman’s 2011 Trust Barometer study,
are too broad and ill-defined to allow ANY conclusions to be drawn.
A HORDE of variables and a universe of undefined terms and a multitude of meanings and a gazillion individual interpretations for terms, etc. possible by the respondents.
Ponder my words and realize the uselessness of the study unless for use in spreading propaganda and the continued mass brainwashing of the masses; likely to the benefit of the few at the apex of the socio-economic hierarchy who continuously resolve to maintain the status quo so beneficial to the few at the expense of the many.
The prose is a bit overblown for my taste, but the content is actually right on: this study is totally meaningless as a study of anything. It serves primarily as an attempt to induce the state it purports to study (namely, trust in various industries).
The X-Files taught me to “trust no one”.
The real question here is why did brewing and spirits score so low?
Maybe the participants were inebriated and got confused. Corny I know, but I couldn’t resist.