Trust Report | Trust in Relationships | Trust in Bloggers

In the recently published 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer is the company’s ninth survey on trust and credibility I have to commend them for making an attempt in trying to define a hard to define data category.  While the sampling is small (less than 1,000 people) I think that there are a few interesting findings worth commenting on.

One that sticks out is word of mouth marketing. "Word of mouth is not just a different kind of messenger; it’s a fundamental change in the traditional value system of information."  I think that the reason why is when people see each other they can trust each other.  There is accountability when you can look into someone’s eyes.  As John Jantsch says marketing is getting to know, like and trust people.  It really is that simple.

Social media networks have that word of mouth component where people tend to believe one another.  There is a face to the opinion, hence accountability.  Bloggers did not do well, no surprise since anyone can publish whatever they want whenever they want.