There seems to be a disturbance in “The Force”! Strange events are occurring. For example, in a referendum on June 23, the people of the UK voted to leave the European Union, despite the government, most of the mainstream media and the vast majority of the “Establishment” strongly supporting remaining. In the USA, Donald is the Republican candidate for the Presidency despite being written off as a complete no-hoper by pretty much the entire punditocracy as recently as early this year.
So what’s happening? Basically a collapse in trust in government and so-called elites. According to Pew Research, only about 20% of Americans “Always or Mostly Trust the US Government”. That’s down from around 80% in the mid-60s and 50% in the early 2000s.
Here’s something else…
For 16 years, communications firm Edelman has been surveying people around the world on their trust in various institutions. And one of the firm’s findings is that people are especially likely these days to describe “a person like me”… a friend or, say, a Facebook friend…as a credible source of information. A “person like me” is now viewed as twice as credible as a government leader, the head of the firm Richard Edelman said at a recent conference. “We have a reversal of traditional influence. It is going not top-down, but sideways.”
Put another way, the sources of influence that matter have changed. It now largely rests with the broader population. People trust their peers much more than they trust their political leaders or news organizations.
This has BIG implications for marketers in the areas of credibility and trust…
(1) More than ever, it’s important to build a solid relationship with your customers and earn their trust
(2) Customer testimonials and case studies increase in importance
(3) Be careful of using government or other traditional “authority” figures as sources of credibility
(4) Referrals and positive “word of mouth” are an essential component of long-term success, not just “nice to have”.