Consumers trust some industries more than others. They expect large companies to address sociopolitical problems, such as climate change and the affordability of drugs in developing countries. And their expectations vary significantly depending on the industry and geography involved. These survey findings1 suggest that to win the public’s trust, companies should build a deeper and more nuanced understanding of what consumers think about and expect from them so that they can tailor their approaches accordingly (see “The trust gap between consumers and corporations”).
We asked consumers to rate the importance of a wide range of broad and sector-specific issues, as well as the performance of companies in six industries in addressing each of them.2 The research covered a mix of industries—electric power, financial services, food and beverage, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, and retailing—that are, to varying degrees, consumer facing and subject to regulation and that have recently experienced significant public scrutiny. In addition, the panelists responded to questions about perceptions of these industries and the specific issues facing them.
Across the industries we examined, consumers identified important areas where they think that companies are doing an unsatisfactory job: transparency about business practices and the risks of products and services, the development of socially and environmentally responsible products and services, and the price and accessibility of products.
Consumers also say that companies perform inadequately in addressing issues concerning their political influence and profit levels, as well as the pay of senior management. But these issues are rated as only somewhat important (Exhibit 1). Our analysis3 nonetheless showed that these issues are strongly correlated with the public’s general level of trust in large global companies and therefore might spur consumers to distrust those that get them wrong.
While the public distrusts, to a significant extent, all of the industries we studied, some fare better than others. Retailers and food and beverage companies inspire the most confidence; overall, more than seven out of ten respondents trust them to act in the best interest of society all, most, or some of the time. Roughly six in ten respondents trust pharmaceutical, electric power, and financial-services companies; only four out of ten, petroleum companies. However, we found major variations: for instance, only 10 percent of French consumers and 17 percent of US ones trust large oil companies to act in the best interest of society, compared with 41 percent of consumers in the United Kingdom and 86 percent in India.
A look at how consumers view the burning sociopolitical issues in the petroleum and other industries reveals a mix of risks and business opportunities and highlights the difficult trade-offs that executives must make.
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