Complain about a product or service

Consumers' Trust in Business Falls

Only 12% have 'a great deal of confidence' in business

November 14, 2007
A new survey finds that nearly one in five adult American consumers -- 18 percent -- say their trust in businesses that they regularly deal with has decreased in the past 12 months, more than twice as many who say their trust increased.

The first-ever Better Business Bureau/Gallup Trust in Business Index survey also found that fewer than half of American consumers (49 percent) say they have a great deal (12 percent) or quite a lot (37 percent) of trust in businesses that they regularly deal with.

THE BBB survey focuses on consumer trust in businesses that they regularly deal with and provides guidance to businesses, especially small businesses, about steps they can take to increase trust.

“It’s alarming that about 37 million American adults trust business less now than they did last year, and that fewer than half of all Americans have a lot of trust in businesses they deal with every day,” said Steven Cole, president and CEO, Council of Better Business Bureaus.

“There are many contributing reasons for this bad news -- recent toy recalls, the sub-prime mortgage and foreclosure crisis, well publicized ethics lapses and criminal violations, and a long period of what many experts see as declining customer service,” he said.

“But whatever the causes, if we care about the health and prosperity of our nation, we had better address trust issues immediately.”

When asked how important 14 reputational attributes are in determining what businesses they trust, American adult consumers rated a company’s reputation for honesty and fairness most important, with 93 percent saying this is extremely or very important.

A company’s reputation for being both dependable and reliable was second with 91 percent saying it is extremely or very important, while a reputation for providing safe products is third at 89 percent. Reputation for providing good value for money and good prices ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Company advertising ranked lowest, with only 18 percent of respondents citing it as a key trust factor.

Low prices

Further, consumers were asked to consider what one company, large or small, that they regularly deal with in everyday life, do they trust most -- and what does that company do to earn their trust.

From unprompted, top-of-mind responses, competitive, low prices were cited as a key trust factor by 29 percent of respondents, with nice and friendly personnel at 29 percent as well. Good customer service (non-specific) was ranked third by consumers as a core component of trust in companies at 26 percent.

Consumers were also asked to consider the one company they deal with regularly that they least trust and comment on what the company does that creates the lack of trust.

High charges and fees were noted by 30 percent of consumers as creating the most distrust, followed by poor service (27 percent) and failure to meet promises (16 percent).

“Earning consumers’ trust isn’t simply the result of good ethics, integrity or even low prices,” said Cole. “As the survey data shows, it’s more -- companies must keep their commitments and produce results. If they don’t provide quality customer service and deliver on promises, they won’t be trusted, and consumers are not likely to purchase their goods or services.”

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |