Church of the Customer Blog
« Who do you trust? Most say "a person like me" | Main | Ritual and tradition »
February 14, 2006
Who do you trust? Most say "a person like me"
Who is the most credible source of information about a company?
According to a survey of nearly 2,000 opinion leaders in 11 countries, it's "a person like me," meaning a friend or colleague. "A person like me" has dramatically surpassed previous answers of "doctors" and "academic experts" for the first time, according to the seventh-annual Edelman Trust Barometer.
In the U.S., trust in "a person like
me" increased from 20% in 2003 to the current figure of 68%. Wow! And in what's sure to be a blow to some egos, the 2,000 respondents in the survey
consider rank-and-file employees more credible than
corporate CEOs.
Interestingly enough, the survey says Microsoft is the world's most trusted company. You've come a long way, Microsoft. Yes, typing "Microsoft" and "evil" into Google still produces 31,800,000 results. But I would confidently bet that Microsoft uber-blogger Robert Scoble, Channel 9 and the company's 2,000+ bloggers are playing a big part in that survey's results. They're humanizing Microsoft by making the company more accessible and therefore, more trustworthy.
(As far as I know, Edelman is not charging for the report but it sure would be easier for interested parties if they made it available online for a quick download. It certainly would spread among networks on opinion leaders a lot faster.)
P.S. Robert says put the word brrreeeport in your blog today.
Other blogs that reference Who do you trust? Most say "a person like me":
» Customer Feedback--Now More Important Than Ever from Customer Service Experience
I’ve been researching customer feedback for my organization and I highly recommend two books for those who want to edge out their competition. The first is T. Scott Gross’ book, When Customers Talk. Scott looks at the process of gaining... [Read More]
» Prospects prefer referrals from "a person like me" from Automatic Referrals
Whose opinion counts most to your prospective clients? According to the most recent survey by The Edelman Trust Barometer, the answer is most likely a person like me. (Thanks to the Church of the Customer for pointing out this link.) [Read More]
» Discriminating Trust and Corporate Leaders from Jeremy Zawodny's blog
Over on the Chuch of the Customer Blog I read the following: According to a survey of nearly 2,000 opinion leaders in 11 countries, it's "a person like me," meaning a friend or colleague. "A person like me" has dramatically surpassed previous answers o... [Read More]
