Brand loyalty and trust in companies is far weaker than most company leaders imagine. A sector-by-sector perspective of our 2023 Trust Survey indicates executives should allocate more company-wide effort to maintaining and earning trust with customers.
While executives may be surprised at the weakness in consumer trust in our survey, the good news is that there may be a simple, low-cost way to foster higher levels of loyalty and trust — disclose more specifics about the policies and data security initiatives that safeguard sensitive, personal details.
In our 2023 Trust Survey, no sector can claim immunity from erosion in the number of consumers who say they highly trust companies. The two sectors experiencing the sharpest declines from a year ago are financial services and tech, media and telecommunications.
No matter the sector, there is a wide “trust gap” between executives and their customers on the question of whether a sector is highly trusted.
Executives believe they are “highly trusted,” but consumers have a much more skeptical view. The “trust gap” between them ranges from 50 percentage points for financial services to a high of 63 percentage points for tech, media and telecom.
The sector-wide persistence of the trust mismatch suggests that larger forces may be at work. The Conference Board’s June 2023 Consumer Confidence Survey1 reports that consumer expectations remain at a level that’s consistent with recession. And an annual Gallup survey2 reports that the confidence score for big business is at an all-time low. The pessimistic mood is likely hurting companies, no matter how trustworthy they are.
With so many Americans sounding skeptical, executives who believe customer trust is an important part of their firewall during a crisis may find that trust is brittle. And if trust crumbles, it could make it that much more difficult to address, or recover from, a crisis. Fewer consumers, compared to last year, say they are willing to forgive companies if they correct a mistake, indicating it’s becoming harder to win back customers.
The brittleness of trust takes on new urgency in the digital age where it’s much easier for customers to share their thoughts or migrate their business. The combined effects of digital apps, the trust gap and consumers’ darker mood could lead to black swan events.
Take the case of Silicon Valley Bank, which experienced a significant decline in its uninsured deposits in just a few hours. The withdrawals were facilitated by mobile phone apps, instant communications and a sudden lack of faith in the company.3 Many industry observers didn’t expect events to unfold the way they did, and the lesson is that executives should make the unexpected a bigger part of their crisis planning.
Thirty-eight percent of the consumers in our survey say that once trust is damaged, they’ll no longer purchase the company’s products or services. What do they want in order to feel your company is trustworthy?
Consumers tell us the most important trust-earning actions are protecting their data (79% say it’s “very important”), quickly responding to and resolving their concerns (74%) and delivering a consistent and reliable customer experience (74%).
Because data protection is paramount for consumers, roughly seven out of ten say it’s very important for companies to disclose their data privacy policies. This was the highest cited consideration, ahead of financial information, DEI progress and environmental impact. But most companies say they don’t disclose that information. Being more transparent about data policies may be one of the easiest ways for your company to foster trust, and it could give your company a leg up on the competition.
Generative AI is the talk of executive suites across many industries, both for its possibilities and risks. It’s vital that the uses of AI and Generative AI happen in a way that’s responsible, trustworthy, fair and dependable — particularly when its use can directly impact customers’ and stakeholders’ trust. Those topics are at the top of PwC’s agenda as we invest in the technology, as well as when we help clients navigate their own implementation and gauge which use cases can provide the most benefit to their organization, and doing so with trust in mind.
1“US Consumer Confidence Improved Substantially in June”, The Conference Board, June 27, 2023
2“Historically Low Faith in U.S.Institutions Continues”, Gallup, Inc., July 6, 2023
3“Remarks by Vice Chairman Travis Hill at the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Recent Bank Failures and the Path Ahead”, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., April 12, 2023
Here are some actions you can take to help embed trust-earning into your organization.