2012 Edelman Trust Barometer

It is always interesting to find research data that connects with course concepts and textbook readings. Take for example, David Armano’s blog, “Logic + Emotion” http://darmano.typepad.com/. In a recent post, he detailed the findings of a study by Edelman Insight that quantified the trust customers place on different sources of information. The 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer showed some striking changes from last year’s results:

Increased scepticism towards institutions – Trust in government officials or regulators and CEO’s faced double-digit decreases from last year.

Increased trust in “a person like yourself” – Trust in 3^rd party individuals increased by a stunning 22% from 2011.

2012 Edelman Trust Barometer

With these findings at hand, what can companies do to take advantage of this new information? Armano suggests that companies “share the stage with ‘regular’ people who have a voice via a variety of social channels.” This is where textbook concepts enrich real-life examples – namely customer-managed relationships and consumer-generated marketing. Companies should make platforms available, such as Blogger, Twitter and Facebook, through which consumers can actively interact and share their views with others. Allowing consumers to “like”, “tweet” or blog about the company’s brand can spark consumer-generated marketing which, according to research (see above) is increasingly appealing to and trusted by consumers.

Monitoring consumer-generated marketing seems almost impossible as consumer comments and ratings are uncensored over the web. However, this may prove to be beneficial to the company by allowing the company to focus on building value and satisfying or delighting customers. These customers in turn will be the channel through which the brand is promoted by advocating the company`s products on the platforms available online.