The question of trust is weighing heavily on people around the world right now.
In Australia, public authorities assured us there was no need for panic-buying in response to the spread of coronavirus, but consumers still panicked. Why? Distrust.
Roy Morgan research shows that distrust is one of the most significant, yet least recognised risks to Australian business and society in general.
The newly released March 2020 edition of the Roy Morgan Risk Report, shows that topping the brands with a Net Distrust Score — where distrust outweighs trust, and in these cases far outweighs it — are Facebook, Telstra and AMP. Mining and Petroleum is the most distrusted industry sector.
On the flipside, topping the list of brands with a Net Trust Score — meaning the trust felt toward them outweighs the distrust — are Bunnings, ALDI and Woolworths. Retail is the most trusted industry sector.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said: “Our work uncovered the scale of distrust – this previously invisible force. It’s not uncertainty or even an absence of trust. It is something separate and more powerful, an active sense that we were foolish to trust too much, and it cannot be ignored. For brands and businesses, it leads directly to customer churn, loss of market share, and a plummeting share price — in the case of AMP a 70 percent share-price drop and $2 billion of lost value.”
Other noteworthy results include:
• Only two car manufacturers are distrusted overall: Volkswagen and Holden, a response to the former’s emissions scandal and the latter’s closing of Australian facilities and retreat from the Australian market.
• Centrelink is deeply distrusted, with Federal and State Governments also distrusted overall.
• All of the Big-4 banks are distrusted, with NAB in the unwelcome position of the bank with the highest net distrust. However, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank has the highest trust among 22 banks, credit unions and building societies ranked in the trusted and distrusted brand lists.
Top 10 Brands
Top Industries
