Corporate Australia Cops a 'Bloody Nose' in Edelman's Latest 'Trust' Findings

Further to a previous post TRUST: The Elusive Commodity Worth its Weight in Gold (and then some) -- here is some more damning evidence that companies are fast losing the respect of the people who matter most to their business - consumers.

PR firm Edelman has just released the Australian results of its 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual study that takes the pulse of consumers' views of government and big business (My previous post on this subject looked at the Trust Barometer's global findings). 

Here are some interesting (scary?) snapshots of the Australian data, along with some PR Warrior commentary:

Trust in business in Australia is in decline with 74% of survey respondents indicating they trust business less than they did last year. PR WARRIOR: WTF? If these were sales figures, whole departments would be sacked - in fact, it would be too late, the company would already be out of business. Given the level of trust in a company has a considerable effect on whether a person will buy goods and services from them, this has got to be high on the agenda of marketing, PR and C-suite executives of large companies, surely?

Trust in government is high - 56% - trust in business is low - 43%. This is the largest gap in trust between government and business in the developed world. For example, in the U.S., trust in government is at 30%, and trust in business is at 36%. PR WARRIOR: This is an interesting stat. Maybe having a government that's still quite new and hasn't worn out its welcome yet might be a factor. If anything, it underscores the fact that trust in business is very low (anecdotally, you'd think governments would tend not to rate well in the trust stakes, so this is indeed a positive for Rudd & Co).

Banks, media companies and insurance companies are the least trusted in Australia - significantly less than in China where banks are among the most trusted. Technology, biotech and the food are the most trusted in Australia. PR WARRIOR: No surprises here given the global economic meltdown; interesting that technology rates high in trust. Maybe iPod-driven?

CEOs are the least trusted source of information when forming an opinion of a company. Eighty-one per cent of respondents do not trust the CEO as a source in Australia, the US and Europe. PR WARRIOR: This is a damning statistic and given we live in a hyper-connected world where openness, transparency, accountability and corporate social responsibility are expected of CEOs and corporations, you would think - hope - that Australia's business leaders see the light and start ditching the over-rehearsed, jargon-laden corporate speak and start communicating in a more 'humanistic' way with the public, indeed all stakeholders. As Barack Obama's 'digital kingmaker' Ben Self urged Australian leaders recently - it's time to drop the corporate speak and start dealing with your supporters, customers and partners like human beings.

Independence drives trust: 70% of respondents trust academic or expert opinions – this number rises to 82% among respondents aged 25-34. PR WARRIOR: No surprises here - it's a main reason public relations experts either hire, or attempt to influence, key opinion leaders within industry, academia and the community so they in turn can spread the word and reinforce credibility.

HERE'S THE KICKER ROCK STARS:

Eighty-seven per cent of Australians would refuse to buy from a company they do not trust, and 93% said they chose to buy product or services from companies they trust. PR WARRIOR: If corporate Australia continues to waste money blasting one-way messages at people (advertising) at the expense of rebuilding their declining reputations, not only will their advertising become increasingly less effective but consumers will continue to drift away, preferring to give their business to companies they perceive to be more open in their communications, more transparent in their dealings and more community-minded in their actions - indeed, more 'trustworthy'.

CLICK HERE for a comprehensive slide show on the Australian findings ("Is Trust in Business at Crisis Point in Australia").

CLICK HERE for a two-page fact sheet on the findings.