How to Measure Trust and Mistrust

Chapter 6 of Measuring Public Relationships:
The Data-Driven Communicator's Guide to Success

Trust is in the news of late, so we thought we'd exerpt the chapter on measuring trust from Katie Delahaye Paine's book Measuring Public Relationships. The introduction is below. Click here to download the whole chapter as a pdf. (Click here to buy the book.)

Trust, or lack thereof, has a measurable effect on the financial health of an organization. The accounting firm Arthur Anderson was destroyed after the Enron scandal because its clients lost their trust in its results. Whenever news of tainted beef hits the airwaves consumers lose trust in the safety of their favorite burger, and fast food sales take a dive. Conversely, a key to FedEx’s success is that customers trust the company’s pledge to deliver “When it absolutely, positively has to be there” overnight.

When trust helps an organization build relationships with key constituencies, it saves that organization money by reducing the costs of litigation, regulation, legislation, pressure campaigns, boycotts, or lost revenue that result from bad relationships. A high level of trust helps cultivate relationships with donors, consumers, investors, and legislators who are needed to support organizational goals. When employees trust their employer they are more likely to support the mission of the organization and be satisfied with their jobs. Lower employee turnover has a direct impact on the bottom line. Trust from the financial community is critical to an organization’s access to capital and therefore its ability to grow. Good relationships with the media can often avert a crisis...

Click here to download the whole chapter as a pdf.