The most credible source of information about a company is now “a person like me,” which has risen dramatically to surpass doctors and academic experts for the first time, according to the seventh annual Edelman Trust Barometer.
Two other bits of note from the survey:
- In the U.S., trust in “a person like me” increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% today.
- The interviewees also consider rank-and-file employees more credible spokespersons than corporate CEOs (42% vs. 28% in the U.S.).
What this means: Although far from conclusive, this is another credible data point to support the belief that relationships and connections in a human voice are the things that matter in the current market. The same-ol’, same-ol’ of corporatespeak is increasingly irrelevant.
Bonus factoid: A 2004 survey by Jupiter Research showed that 71% of teens (age 13-17) regularly use instant messaging, and 30% regularly use blogs (remember, this was a survey done in 2004; the numbers may be higher now). Think about the implications of affinity and social networking when the MySpace generation gets into the workforce in a couple of years…
(hat tip: ben and jackie)
Christopher Carfi, CEO and co-founder of Cerado, looks at sales, marketing, and the business experience from the customers point of view. He currently is focused on understanding how emerging social technologies such as blogs, wikis, and social networking are enabling the creation of new types of customer-driven communities. He is the author of the Social Customer Manifesto weblog, and has been occasionally told that he drives and snowboards just a little too quickly.
