trust and purpose

Trust and Purpose

E V I D E N C E - B A S E D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

16 June 2011

Methodology

• PSB completed 3,161

online interviews among

the general population in

the following countries

from 5 May to 16 May,

2011. Data has been

weighted to age and

gender demographics for

each country.*

Country Number of Interviews Margin of Error

Overall 3,161 +/- 1.74

Male 1599 +/- 2.45

Female 1562 +/- 2.48

Under 35 1403 +/- 2.62

35-49 1075 +/- 2.99

50 and over 682 +/- 3.75

UK 302 +/- 5.64

France 317 +/- 5.50

Italy 333 +/- 5.37


Germany 301 +/- 5.65

Spain 305 +/- 5.61

Sweden 206 +/- 6.83

Norway 206 +/- 6.83

Netherlands 206 +/- 6.83

Switzerland 200 +/- 6.93

Belgium 204 +/- 6.86

Estonia* 51 +/- 13.72

Denmark 212 +/- 6.73

Greece 257 +/- 6.11

Portugal 61 +/- 12.55

*Estonia and Portugal are not weighted due

to low base size; not all questions are asked

in Portugal

2

Where is the trust?

• While trust in business is not high, it is higher than among media, central government and religious leaders;

central government is the least trusted of all

• Trust in business varies enormously and depends on a combination of factors:

1. Provenance: people trust local companies the most, national a little less and international least of

all. Europeans favour doing businesses with companies from America, Japan and Australia over

BRICs


2. Core values: honesty and trustworthiness, good value and treatment of employees remain more

important reputation builders than community and environmental credentials

3. Sector: industries that have experienced recent crises (finance and energy), perhaps unsurprisingly,

are less trusted than computer and food and beverage companies

• In general, Europeans are cynical about the motivations of business and CEOs believing them to be more

motivated by personal gain and profits than a desire to help society

3

Where is the trust?

• People prefer to seek out information about companies when they want it – through Google searches or

traditional media – rather than receive incoming updates through Facebook or Twitter. Many feel companies

only communicate to sell them things.

• The priorities of consumers and employees have more in common than might be expected: although

employees do prioritise paying employees a fair wage over quality products and services

E V I D E N C E - B A S E D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S 4


TOP OF MIND IN 2011

5

Protests in 2011

E V I D E N C E - B A S E D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S 6

The economic crisis needs no translation


In the last two years, has there been a single event which has caused you to lose trust in companies? (Open-end response; Portugal not shown)

7

Bonuses, the crisis and golden

parachutes have undercut trust in CEOs


In the last two years, has there been an single event which has caused you to lose trust in CEOs? (Open-end response; Portugal not shown)

8

Large corporations are seen to

be motivated by money, profit and greed


When you think of large corporations, what is the first word that comes to mind? (Open-end response; Portugal not shown)

9


TRUST IN COMPANIES AND

ORGANISATIONS

10

Provenance is a key factor in trust in business and organisations

21

1

• While local businesses are most trusted, overall trust in companies and organisations is very

low. CEOs and central government are the least trusted


-9-11 -12

-28-32 -33 -33

-36

-48-51

Local

companies &

businesses

Front

line

staff

National

companies &

businesses

International

organizations

Nationally-

owned

companies

International

companies &

businesses

European

Parliament

European

Commission

My

local

government

Foreign-

owned

companies

Corporate

CEOs

Central

government

Compared to two years ago, are you more or less trusting of..? (Showing Among All, Net Trust [(Much more + Somewhat more trusting) –

(Somewhat less + Much less trusting)] )

11

UK FR IT DE SP SE NO NL CH BE EE DK GR PT

Local companies and

businesses25 19 -10 38 6 25 26 34 41 17 -16 42 7 -7

Front line staff -10 -5 -7 17 -1 -32 12 14 17 -11 15 12 3 -43

National companies and

businesses-35 -24 -16 1 -6 -7 0 -8 23 2 -20 4 -18 -20

International organizations

(e.g. United Nations)-14 -10 0 -11 -7 -23 9 -13 -8 -19 -21 3 -53 -3

Nationally-owned companies -25 -16 -24 13 3 -22 -18 10 22 12 0 -13 -78 -11

International companies and

• Overall, trust is very low across all markets towards industries and companies

Most trusting of companies and organisations per country


International companies and

businesses-40 -37 -19 -27 -22 -45 -39 -14 -36 -24 1 -25 -17 -5

European Parliament -51 -27 -16 -40 -23 -44 -51 -34 -30 -26 -12 -41 -29 -13

European Commission -52 -31 -21 -41 -18 -47 -41 -33 -23 -19 -5 -42 -40 -6

My local government -43 -23 -44 -14 -46 -41 -18 -12 -15 -39 -38 -11 -65 -9

Foreign-owned companies -56 -36 -19 -46 -26 -38 -49 -36 -36 -43 -8 -46 -16 -30

Corporate CEOs -54 -49 -44 -29 -68 -59 -52 -39 -52 -37 -37 -42 -51 -64

Central government -53 -46 -52 -44 -77 -47 -46 -27 -48 -68 -47 -26 -78 -84

Compared to two years ago, are you more or less trusting of..? (Ranked by Among All, Showing Net Trust [(Much more + Somewhat more trusting) –

(Somewhat less + Much less trusting)] )

12

• Trust is far stronger for national companies over foreign-owned ones through over a quarter say the origin

does not matter

Trust is strongest on the home front

34

66

29

12 I am less likely to

trust companies

that are from

Europe

The origin of a


Which of the following is closer to your opinion? (Showing Among All)

66

I would be more likely to trust

companies that are foreign-owned

I would be less likely to trust

companies that are foreign-owned 59

The origin of a

company does

not matter to

me; I trust them

all equally

I am more likely

to trust

companies that

are from Europe

13

Australia, Japan and the US are the most trusted countries

21

48

55

56

26

25

22

28

54

27

24

16

• Australian companies rank the highest

• Trust for the BRIC countries is very low


12

14

14

18

21

22

29

24

20

26

64

56

61

61

54

Trusted Unsure Not trusted

Thinking about foreign-owned companies, how much do you trust companies from each of the following countries? (Showing Among All)

14

And the US, Japan and Australia have

the most trustworthy foreign-owned companies

31%

6%

3%2% 1% 2%

Japan

United States

• China, South Korea, Brazil, India and Russia fall well behind


31%

24%

Australia

China

South Korea

Brazil

Russia

India

Thinking about foreign-owned companies, which country do you think has companies which are the most trustworthy?

(Showing Among All; Portugal not included)

15

59 55

55 5249 48

3938 35

34 31

7169

6462

56 55

4744

4138 38

2824 24

Somewhat trustworthy

Very trustworthy

Many industry groups are more

trusted than traditional thought leaders

• Technology, food and beverage and car companies are the most trusted, traditional community leaders

(NGOs, the media, government, politicians and religious leaders) are least


12 149 10 7 7 8 6 6 4 7

3 3 4 2

38 3534 31

2521 20

11

13

For each of the following, please indicate how trustworthy you consider each group or industry to be...? (Showing Very/Somewhat Trustworthy on a four-

point scale for Among All)

16

Honest & Trustworthy and good

value are important when purchasing products

40 39

28 28

23

19 18 1816

1311 10 9

5 53

• People tend to focus on the basics of good value and honest and trustworthy companies over traditional CSR

and philanthropy


3

Thinking about what is important to you about companies, which of the following would you say important when considering which companies to

purchase products or services from? (Showing Among All – Respondents allowed to pick up to three)

17


Honest & trustworthy 51 37 41 33 43 50 41 49 22 39 45 48 27 56

Products & services are good value 41 37 37 38 40 36 30 27 44 39 24 41 58 55

Treats employees fairly 27 36 17 30 25 27 25 26 46 33 22 29 24 15

High quality products & services 31 24 24 25 23 40 38 31 15 26 55 30 29 33

High standards in products &

services31 14 21 21 15 34 28 18 24 29 24 29 24 29

Environmentally conscious 14 17 17 27 18 15 12 26 28 20 10 20 24 22

Socially responsible 12 21 24 26 27 9 9 17 13 15 14 13 14 18

Important when purchasing products per country


Socially responsible 12 21 24 26 27 9 9 17 13 15 14 13 14 18

Useful products & services 16 17 25 14 22 11 24 16 18 13 29 14 18 25

Inexpensive products & services 17 14 8 14 13 21 16 21 9 16 10 17 27 15

Ethical executive leadership 8 23 10 12 9 20 13 5 19 14 12 6 9 20

Cares about the community 15 7 13 6 15 9 13 11 7 8 14 22 13 9

Strong corporate purpose 11 10 11 7 12 8 19 11 15 15 8 4 4 18

Innovative 5 12 13 11 8 6 5 7 16 8 14 7 8 29

Hires & promotes minorities &

women 3 5 12 5 7 3 6 4 4 5 8 3 3 4

Good growth in revenues & profits 3 5 3 2 12 1 9 4 5 8 4 1 3 2

History of charitable contributions 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 2 2 2 6 5 11 2


purchase products or services from? (Respondents allowed to pick up to three)

18


CEOS

19

48

21

CEOs are seen to be motivated by personal

profit and are seen as less trustworthy than employees

2416

• Three-fifths believe that CEOs are less trustworthy than the average employee and nearly half believe that

their motivation is personal profit


21

14

73 3 2

Personal

profit

Profits for the

company

Personal

recognition

Having a

strong

corporate

purpose

beyond profit

making

A desire to

help society

through

delivering

quality

products or

services

A desire to

help society

through

delivering

quality

products or

services at a

fair price

A desire to

help society

through

giving back

via CSR

programs and

philanthropy

60

More Trustworthy

Less Trustworthy

Don't know

What do you think most top executives are motivated by? (Showing Among All)

Do you think the average CEO is more or less trustworthy than the average employee? (Showing Among All)

20


EMPLOYEE AND CONSUMER

VIEWPOINT

21

72

6562 62

55 54 53 5248

39

57

72

49

68

49

65

50

42 44

36

The desires of consumers and employees

are not as disparate as might be expected

• Although, perhaps unsurprisingly, employees focus on wages and good treatment over delivering safe and

reliable products


Delivering

safe, reliable

products and

services

Paying

employees a

fair wage

Offering good,

immediate

customer

service

Treating its

employees

well (e.g.

providing

them with

benefits like a

pension

shares, etc.)

Delivering

great value

products and

services

Investing in

their staff

Being more

open about

their mistakes

Doing more to

help their

customers

Investing in

our country

Publishing

information

about their

safety and

testing

practices and

results

Consumer

Employee

Thinking as a consumer, how important are each of the following actions that companies could take to help increase your trust in them? / Thinking as an

employee of a company, how important are each of the following in helping companies to increase your trust in them? (Showing ‘Very important’ on a four-point

scale for Among All) (Showing top ten ranked by consumer)

22



Audience UK FR IT DE SP SE NO NL CH BE EE DK GR PT

Delivering safe, reliable

products and services

Consumer 73 71 67 62 71 80 75 68 72 74 57 65 85 85

Employee 62 55 50 46 46 65 70 52 61 62 45 56 72 62

Paying employees a fair

wage

Consumer 66 73 63 63 68 76 67 51 78 71 61 48 66 38

Employee 74 69 60 69 80 85 79 59 80 75 61 66 80 63

Treating its employees well Consumer 60 71 60 53 70 63 59 62 73 75 43 50 56 44


Treating its employees well

(e.g. providing them with

benefits like a pension

shares)

Consumer 60 71 60 53 70 63 59 62 73 75 43 50 56 44

Employee 69 70 58 61 76 72 78 67 71 71 41 64 72 69

Offering good, immediate

customer service

Consumer 68 65 55 57 48 71 68 53 56 62 61 57 84 80

Employee 57 42 41 42 54 58 61 47 36 47 33 44 64 55

Delivering great value


Consumer 72 42 52 42 53 67 51 42 41 58 43 69 74 51

Employee 55 45 46 35 43 64 57 40 50 53 37 53 62 55



scale) (Showing top ten ranked by consumer for Among All – Not shown)

23



AudienceUK FR IT DE SP SE NO NL CH BE EE DK GR PT

Investing in their staff

Consumer 55 57 54 42 64 65 53 47 59 60 31 36 60 47

Employee 64 65 60 54 73 78 63 58 63 68 47 57 80 67

Being more open about

their mistakes

Consumer 55 59 61 50 48 47 44 57 66 59 35 47 55 38

Employee 52 54 54 46 48 48 36 47 53 51 35 51 56 47

Consumer 61 50 39 46 54 59 51 52 51 62 47 41 66 49


Doing more to help their

customers

Consumer 61 50 39 46 54 59 51 52 51 62 47 41 66 49

Employee 49 39 37 32 50 45 41 31 41 48 37 38 50 44

Investing in our country

Consumer 47 57 55 37 67 41 24 37 40 51 22 33 73 56

Employee 39 49 57 34 60 34 24 21 41 49 14 30 71 62

Publishing information

about their safety and

testing practices and results

Consumer 43 52 39 36 37 40 27 29 34 41 20 35 53 36

Employee 32 43 39 32 41 41 28 27 32 37 22 31 47 27



scale (Showing top ten ranked by consumer for Among All – Not shown)

24

Corporate Purpose goes hand-in-hand with business performance

31

22

18 17

11

• While acting responsibly is important, money making is seen as part of the definition


11

Balancing making money with

acting responsibly

Making money and driving

profits

A company's guiding

principles for making

decisions beyond profit

making

Producing goods and services

for their customers

The organisation's approach

to doing business

Which of the following do you think most closely defines ‘Corporate Purpose’? (Showing Among All)

25

Responsibility and fairness are important

• A strong corporate purpose is important

• And consumers say they would rather pay more for products and services that are produced responsibly

32A company's corporate

purpose is not important to

21I would rather pay less for

products and services and


Which of the following is closer to your view? (Showing Among All)

68

purpose is not important to

me

A company that has a

strong corporate purpose is

important to me

79

products and services and

not know about how they

are delivered and produced

I would rather pay more for

products and services that

are delivered and produced

responsibly and fairly

26

While a company’s highest priority should be its consumers,

many feel profit comes first

• The majority feel customers and employees should come first, but that corporations are more focused on

their bottom-line

84

A company's highest

priority should be adhering

to thinking about their

customers and employees

and making sure they

conduct their business in 73

Corporations are generally

focused on providing value

to shareholders. Customers

are important, but

companies put profits first


16

84conduct their business in

an ethical and responsible

way

A company's highest

priority should making a

profit for their

shareholders and investors

and driving the country's

economy

27

companies put profits first

Corporations are generally

focused on providing value

to consumers.Profits are

important, but companies

put their customers first


27

61

Generally,

corporations and

their

spokespeople are

dishonest, and

most

communications

44

I'm generally relaxed

about the data that

companies store on

me and my family, as

they typically only

use it for marketing

and customer

28

Companies

are more

trustworthy

today than

when I was a

kid

And companies are seen as dishonest

• Many feel that companies have become more dishonest over time and that they cannot be trusted with

personal information


39

from companies

are lies

Generally,

corporations and

their

spokespeople are

honest, and most

communications

from companies

are the truth

56

and customer

feedback

I'm generally

suspicious about the

data that companies

store on me and my

family, as I think it

can often be used in

a way that infringes

on my privacy

72

kid

Companies

were more

trustworthy

when I was a

kid


28


INFORMATION

29

Many search for information on companies, but traditional

sources are still important

22

1613

118

6 5 4 4

• Search Engines are the primary resource for information

• But newspapers and TV are also important


6 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 03

Where do you tend to find out information about different companies? (Please select one)

30

Word of mouth is important in establishing trust

2623 22

16 15 15 15 15 1412

7 64 4

• However, investigative TV journalism and a company's employees are also trusted channels


7 64 4

How trusting would you be if a company was to use the following channels to engage with you? (Showing % ‘Very trusting’ on four-point scale of ‘Very

trusting’ to ‘Not at all trusting’)

31

And being informed is important…

• The majority of respondents feel they receive the right amount of information

69

I think I hear the right

amount of information on

companies and

organizations 72

I like to be constantly up to

date with the news


31 I feel overwhelmed by the

amount of information I

receive from companies

and organizations

28

I feel overwhelmed by 24

hour news


32

41

42

44 37

82

68

57 57 54

39

Applies somewhat

Applies a lot

But companies only contact people to sell them something…

• Information is generalised and overwhelming for the most part


4126

11 13 178

46 44 37

31

They only get in touch

to try and sell me their


They bombard me with

marketing and

literature that's not

relevant

They send me

information that tells

me about their values

and identity as well as

their products

They send personalized

letters or emails

I hear too much from

the CEO and not

enough from the staff

on the front-line

They keep in touch

with me in a personal

way

Thinking about how companies communicate with you. How much would you say the following applies? (Showing ‘Applies a lot / Applies somewhat’ on

a four=point scale for Among All)

33

59 59

49

82 80

64

37

Somewhat favourable

Very favourable

Consumers want to hear about a

company’s values from the front-line teams

• Four-fifths of respondents were favourable to hearing about companies’ values and identities and they were

most favourable to hearing about it from the front-line staff


23 21 157

49

30

Hearing about the companies'

values and identity

Hearing from the teams on the

front-line not the board

More personalized letters and

emails

Hearing from the board on Twitter

or through blogs

Thinking about the future, how favourable would you be to the following ways in which companies could communicate with you? (Showing ‘Very

favourable / Somewhat favourable’ on a four-point scale for Among All)

34


THANK YOU!

35


APPENDIX

36


Local companies and

businesses6 9 12 11 14 5 2 6 12 4 0 7 6 0

Front line staff 5 6 9 9 4 2 8 4 5 3 6 1 7 2

My local government 5 7 6 6 3 2 4 5 6 1 2 3 3 5

International organizations

(e.g. United Nations)4 4 9 7 4 4 4 3 4 5 8 2 4 0

Nationally-owned

companies4 4 6 7 5 3 1 9 6 2 6 4 4 4

• Overall, trust is very low across all markets towards industries and companies

Most trusting of companies and organisations per country


companies

Central government 4 2 6 4 2 2 3 5 2 0 10 8 3 0

International companies

and businesses4 3 12 4 2 2 1 4 3 1 8 2 5 0

National companies and

businesses3 4 8 5 11 2 2 6 5 3 6 3 6 4

European Commission 3 3 12 3 2 3 2 3 3 5 4 1 6 0

European Parliament 3 2 11 4 2 2 1 3 3 3 8 1 10 0

Foreign-owned companies 3 4 6 5 2 1 0 7 3 0 4 0 7 5

Corporate CEOs 1 2 4 4 1 1 1 3 3 1 2 1 2 0

Compared to two years ago, are you more or less trusting of..? (Showing ‘Much more trusting’ on a four-point scale, ranked by UK)

37

• Trust does not vary between gender and age groups and reflects the low trust scores seen at the overall level

Male Female <35 35 -50 50+

Central government 4 3 5 3 3

Corporate CEOs 3 1 4 2 1

European Commission 4 4 5 4 3

European Parliament 4 4 5 3 4

Foreign-owned companies 4 3 6 3 2

Most trusting of companies and organisations by gender and age


Front line staff 7 5 8 5 4

International companies and businesses 5 3 6 3 3

International organizations (e.g. United Nations) 6 4 8 4 3

Local companies and businesses 9 7 11 6 7

My local government 5 4 7 4 3

National companies and businesses 7 3 6 4 5

Nationally-owned companies 6 4 7 4 3

Compared to two years ago, are you more or less trusting of..? (Showing ‘Much more trusting’ on a four-point scale, ranked by male)

38


Online services 15 10 18 8 22 13 13 5 14 12 24 16 22 16

Computer Hardware &

Software12 11 18 9 19 15 7 6 14 9 12 6 17 7

Food 9 6 8 11 30 7 11 4 14 11 8 6 3 4

Supermarkets 8 3 12 10 14 6 7 10 12 9 6 4 9 15

Beverage Manufacturers 8 7 8 13 7 6 7 3 14 7 10 3 4 7

Social Media 8 3 7 5 16 4 4 4 7 6 16 5 7 2

Entertainment and

Most trusting of industry per country


Entertainment and

television8 3 8 5 8 6 3 3 8 7 8 3 3 6

Religious Leaders 7 7 6 3 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 2 4 2

NGOs 4 10 11 6 10 3 12 3 17 7 2 6 11 4

Automotive 4 7 4 10 9 11 4 3 10 7 10 2 11 4

Energy Providers 4 5 6 3 5 2 11 3 8 3 6 11 5 6

Financial Services 3 3 4 4 2 4 8 3 4 2 2 1 2 0

Government 3 5 5 3 2 6 7 2 2 0 4 4 1 2

Media 2 2 5 6 6 4 4 2 4 6 8 1 2 2

Politicians 2 3 4 3 0 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 2

For each of the following, please indicate how trustworthy you consider each group or industry to be…? (Showing ‘Very trustworthy’ on a four-point scale from

‘Very trustworthy’ to ‘Very untrustworthy’, ranked by UK)

39

Male Female <35 35 -50 50+

Computer Hardware & Software 15 10 15 11 11

Online services 14 14 18 14 12

Food 12 8 11 9 10

NGOs 10 7 9 8 8

Supermarkets 9 9 10 9 8

Beverage Manufacturers 8 7 9 6 7

Automotive 8 6 8 7 6

Most trusting by gender and age


Automotive 8 6 8 7 6

Social Media 8 6 10 6 5

Entertainment and television 6 6 8 6 4

Energy Providers 5 6 8 5 4

Media 4 4 6 4 2

Religious Leaders 4 4 5 3 3

Government 4 3 5 3 3

Financial Services 3 3 6 3 1

Politicians 2 2 3 1 1

For each of the following, please indicate how trustworthy you consider each group or industry to be…? (Showing ‘Very trustworthy’ on a four-point scale from

‘Very trustworthy’ to ‘Very untrustworthy’, ranked by male)

40

Male Female <35 35 -50 50+

Honest & trustworthy 38 42 40 40 41

Products & services are good value 37 41 35 41 41

Treats employees fairly 25 31 26 28 30

High quality products & services 30 26 25 29 29

High standards in products & services 26 21 21 25 24

Environmentally conscious 18 21 24 21 15

Socially responsible 18 17 16 18 19

Important when purchasing products by gender and age


Useful products & services 17 19 16 17 20

Inexpensive products & services 16 16 16 17 15

Ethical executive leadership 12 13 11 11 14

Cares about the community 12 11 10 11 13

Strong corporate purpose 11 10 10 10 11

Innovative 12 7 13 9 7

Hires & promotes minorities & women 4 7 6 6 5

Good growth in revenues & profits 6 3 5 3 5

History of charitable contributions 4 3 4 3 3


purchase products or services from? (Respondents allowed to pick up to three, ranked by Among All – Not Shown)

41

Most trustworthy country

30

40

50

Among All UK France

Italy Germany Spain

Sweden Norway Netherlands

• The US, Japan and Australia are the most trusted countries

• Russia is the least trusted country except in Estonia


0

10

20

30

Japan United States Australia China South Korea Brazil India Russia

Switzerland Belgium Estonia

Denmark Greece

Thinking about foreign-owned companies, which country do you think has companies which are the most trustworthy? (Portugal not shown)

42

trust and purpose

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