Who do we trust ?

Worldwide, people are less and less willing to trust top-down messages delivered through mass media.

In 6 of the 11 countries recently surveyed, the "person like yourself or your peer" is seen as the most credible spokesperson about a company and among the top three spokespeople in every country surveyed. This has advanced steadily over the past three years.

In the US, for example, the "person like yourself or your peer" was only trusted by 22% of respondents as recently as 2003, while in this year's study, 68% of respondents said they trusted a peer. Contrast to that the CEO, who ranks in the bottom half of credible sources in all countries, at 28% trust in the US, near the level of lawyers and legislators. In China, the "person like yourself or your peer" is trusted by 54% of respondents, compared to the next highest spokesperson, a doctor, at 43%.

I am surprised to see that more people in US than in China trust peers more than authorities. China has been considered as a low-trust society, and US is a high-trust society. Number above shows the trust level in US has eroded in recent years.

Also in the above survey, "friends and family" and "colleagues" rank as two of the three most credible sources for information about a company, just behind articles in business magazines. Again, in the US, the "colleagues" number has jumped from 38% in 2003 to 56% in 2006.

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