Trust: the new currency for business

Businesses believe they are much more trusted than they actually are, especially when it comes to consumers

When it comes to trust, the C-suite may be patting themselves on the back for a job not yet done. PwC’s 2022 Consumer Intelligence Series Survey on Trust shows a jarring gap in trust between businesses and their customers and employees.

Almost nine in 10 (87%) executives think consumers have a high level of trust in their businesses. But only 30% of consumers say they do. Elsewhere, the gap between executives’ estimations of employee trust and the reality is much narrower: 84% of business leaders say employee trust is high, compared to 69% of employees. These gaps between perceptions of the level of trust are important because employees and consumers are business leaders’ two most important stakeholder groups.

When we examine how consumer trust has changed since 2021, our survey shows that most industries have managed to maintain the trust they worked so hard to earn during the pandemic. The government, along with the tech, media and telecom industries are somewhat more likely to have lost consumer trust in the past year. This is likely due to increasingly polarized political views in the United States. Meanwhile, the health industry built on the trust earned early in the COVID-19 pandemic when it produced tests, treatments and vaccines.

Businesses need to repair fractures and move closer to stakeholders’ inner circle of trust. So even if top stakeholder priorities appear misaligned and variable, it’s on company leadership to continually build trust by using open communication. Trust — or the loss of it — can affect customer revenue and employee loyalty. Leaders should invest in active strategies to foster trust and listen carefully to stakeholders, while understanding that trust requires an ongoing, open dialogue.

Opinions on trust vary greatly across employees and consumers. Several key areas of alignment include believing that trust must be a priority for organizations, that organizations have a responsibility to build trust and that trust is essential to innovation. However, our survey shows continued misalignment on a number of trust-related topics between business leaders and their customers and employees. For example, in our Trust in US Business Survey from August 2021, consumers, employees and business leaders agreed on several fundamental elements of trust but diverged in their views beyond the top four.

In our current survey, 47% of executives say trust is more bottom-up than top-down, built from customers, employees and other stakeholders rather than senior leadership. Only 27% of customers and 35% of employees say the same, indicating that they are looking to the C-suite to lead more on trust.

In addition, business leaders are focusing on social issues like diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental, social and governance (ESG) as drivers of trust, with 50% of executives strongly agreeing that their companies should invest in and stand up for social and racial equity. And 43% of business leaders say companies should not operate in markets where there is geopolitical or social unrest.

But these issues are not resonating with consumers and employees at the moment. Day-to-day realities — rising prices for essential goods and pandemic fatigue — are demanding more of their attention and are helping to determine whether they trust a company and its leadership. This is consistent with our previous survey that showed 45% of business leaders had implemented transparent ESG reporting — but only 19% of consumers listed it among the top five drivers of trust. So while consumers may appreciate that companies are making ESG investments, they’re less likely to say that these actions are helping to build their trust right now.

This underscores the disconnect we saw in PwC’s Trust In US Business Survey: a continued discrepancy between what business leaders think will move the needle on trust and what consumers and employees say is most important. Until business leaders address this tension, they will have fewer opportunities to be aligned and build trust with key stakeholders.

For customers, affordable products and services rank as the top priority, with 34% selecting it as a top-three important step to earn their trust. In a rising inflationary environment with continued supply chain disruptions, this is no surprise: Consumers are focused on stretching their dollars. Another top priority for consumers is treating employees well. This customer-employee connection is something executives should consider because many consumers are also employees. And as these two important stakeholders become more interchangeable, businesses should recognize that they may be making decisions with dual perspectives in mind.

Not surprisingly, treating employees well is overwhelmingly the No. 1 factor for employees, with 47% of them picking it as a top-three important step to earn their trust.

Businesses are not typically prioritizing what customers and employees find important: 45% of executives are focusing on transparent communications to build trust with both stakeholder groups, but only 13% of consumers and 19% of employees rank this as a priority. And while executives are focusing on being good corporate citizens to build trust, customers and employees rank it low in importance. In other words, when it comes to trust, businesses should start with the basics and be sure to get them right. Then they can build from there.

Trust can be viewed as a currency, altering loyalty and buying decisions for customers, as well as employee retention. And in a sound-bite world — where social media can move politics and markets — recognizing and respecting issues that could push business outside the circle of trust with stakeholders can be especially helpful.

The positives of customer trust-building can directly impact your bottom line. Our previous research showed that 33% of customers have paid a premium for companies because they trust them. In this survey, nine out of 10 (91%) customers say they would buy from a company that gained their trust. Of that group, 14% say they would buy significantly more. On the other hand, of the 71% of customers who say they would buy less if a company lost their trust, a whopping 73% say they would spend significantly less. This highlights the potentially dire consequences of mistakes or missteps when it comes to stakeholder trust. It also aligns with earlier data on the ramifications of losing trust, in which 44% of respondents say that they had stopped buying from a company due to a lack of trust. The saying that “trust is hard to earn and easy to lose” holds true, especially if your company needs to manage the fallout from a data breach, product recall or other trust-crisis event. A solid foundation of earned trust is the leading defense against having to rebuild it.

Practices that maintain a company culture of trust can also translate into action when it comes to employee loyalty. According to employees, if their company does something to gain their trust, 93% would be likely to remain loyal to it and 90% are likely to defend it to others. Again, this highlights how trust becomes a manageable currency, allowing companies to influence both their value and buying power with talent, which are critical in today’s Great Resignation environment.

This may go a long way for talent acquisition and retention, especially when there’s a breach of trust — employees will hold your company accountable. A staggering 71% of employees say that they’re likely to leave if their company does something to lose their trust. Younger generations are even more likely to head out the door: 75% of GenZ and Millennials, 70% GenX and 53% of Boomers. Clearly, not all employees value the same things. Our previous research shows that 22% of workers have left an organization because of issues related to trust.

As business executives look to build trust, diverse stakeholder perspectives continue to be a challenge. In our previous survey, when we asked what’s getting in the way of building that trust, diverse stakeholder perspectives topped the list, cited by 43% of business leaders as a top-three challenge.

Given the turbulent labor market over the past two years, employees have commanded the C-suite’s attention — with many executives saying employees are their No. 1 focus. According to our current survey, however, consumers are top priority. While this may be perceived as a tension point, it could also indicate a blurring of the line between customer and employee. This could point to a shift in workers becoming more customer and client than employee. Business executives are working to build authentic relationships with top stakeholders: 48% have already begun working with consumers, and 47% have implemented a trust-building plan with employees.

With affordable and available goods as drivers of trust combined with supply chain issues across all industries, suppliers — which were near the bottom of the C-suite priority list — are now more important. In our January Pulse Survey, 50% of executives told us that increasing resilience to supply chain disruptions was very important. In our current survey, 43% of executives say they have a plan focused on building trust with suppliers. 

And with good reason. A number of factors that help build trust with consumers relate to the supply chain, such as whether businesses offer a variety of affordable products and services, prioritize domestic talent and resources for their supply chains and respond to customer concerns such as stock shortages. Suppliers also want a lot of the same things that employees do — confirmation that contracts will be honored and that they will be treated fairly. Without careful strategies that build authentic relationships with key suppliers in a disruptive environment of ongoing supply chain snarls, businesses can suffer.