The Importance of Brand Trust

May 14, 2021

MorningConsult Importance of Brand Trust May2021Trust is a key component of brand loyalty. Consumers are willing to recommend a brand they trust to a friend (90%), to buy from a trusted brand more often (88%) and to choose a trusted brand over others (82%). This is per a recent report [download page] from Morning Consult, which surveyed more than 330,000 global consumers across 15 markets about brand trust.

While it’s obvious trust can have a positive impact on a brand’s bottom line, it can also protect a brand in times of crisis. When respondents were asked if they would forgive a brand they trusted if the brand made a mistake or something went wrong, 8 in 10 (82%) agreed.

Unfortunately for businesses, trust may be hard to come by. Fewer than half (47%) of global consumers (44% in the US) automatically trust businesses, while more than one-third (37%; 39% in the US) say they tend not to trust companies and that trust must be earned. However, half (50%) of global consumers are more likely to trust business leaders based in their country and even more (62%) trust small businesses.

When it comes to consumers’ feelings about whether a company is run in an ethical and responsible manner, US consumers are slightly more likely than consumers globally to value reliability and quality over ethics. Fewer than half (45%) of the US consumers surveyed are willing to trust a brand that reliably provides a quality service, regardless of whether they know it is operated in an ethical or responsible manner. That compares to 42% of global consumers. However, a smaller share of US consumers (37%) than global consumers (44%) need to trust that a company is run in an ethical and responsible manner if they are going to trust them.

For US companies, their response to some of the events of 2020 — including COVID-19, the movement for racial equity and the presidential election — had at least some impact on brand trust, either positively or negatively. Looking specifically at the coronavirus pandemic, fewer than half of American consumers say companies’ actions in response to the crisis either made them trust a company more (23%) or less (22%). That said, the remaining 55% say that a brand’s response to COVID-19 had no impact on brand trust.

Find the full report here.

About the Data: Findings come from a survey of more than 330,000 consumers in 15 global markets.

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