Who Do You Trust? The Edleman Trust Barometer and Its Implications for GR Professionals

By Amy Showalter & Dr. Kelton Rhoads

Happy New Year! One challenge we are hearing from government relations professionals is the need to build trust with new legislators, and, due to the economic climate, their PAC and grassroots prospects. We have always known that trust is a major key to advancing your agenda, whether that agenda is to raise more PAC money, or to win your legislative issues.

As you know, we believe that simply “educating” legislators, the public, and your stakeholders is not enough to get them to act on your behalf. In a world of hyper-abundant content, trust, a component of credibility, is the “holy grail” of persuasion.

There is a new research from the Edelman 2008 Trust Barometer that has some interesting insights on what information sources are considered the most trustworthy. This year, Edelman segmented the research into opinion elites aged 18-34 and those 35 and over. They define opinion elites as being “college educated, reporting a household income in the top quartile of the country, and reporting a significant interest in and engagement with the media, business news, and policy affairs.”

We believe it debunks some current popular thinking on how people get information and who they trust. Read on for our take on the bottom line implications for government relations professionals.

It’s All About Me

We have long advocated peer communications to communicate important company legislative issues and the need for political action. Regarding the credibility of company spokespeople, the Trust Barometer found that across cultures and age groups, information is most credible when it comes from:

1. A person like me 58%
2. Financial or industry analyst 57%
3. Academic 56%
4. Doctor or healthcare specialist 55%
5. Regular employee of a company 39%
6. CEO of a company 36%
7. Government official or regulator 32%
8. Entertainer / athlete 15%
9. Blogger 14%

Note that “a person like me” was only 22% in 2003, and is up from 51% in 2007. We believe the world of hyper-abundant content is driving this trend. Access is being winnowed.

The bottom line #1: Remember that legislators are people, too, and many fit the profile of the Trust Barometer respondents. We would certainly view them as “opinion elites.” Thus, consider ratcheting up your influence quotient by recruiting people similar to your targeted legislators for critical grassroots influence assignments.

The bottom line#2: A mix of individuals makes for maximum trust. Look at where “government officials or regulators” ranks -- #7. How many government relations professionals ask lawmakers to meet with their employees or members with hopes of motivating them to take action? According to national meeting planner associations, they cancel their engagements at an average rate of 30%, and this research reveals that they are not a trusted source of information.

Younger Elites Trust Business

There were slight differences on how younger and older opinion elites trust certain organizations and spokespeople. By just a couple of percentage points, the younger elites in the United States “trust business to do what’s right” (60%) whereas 58% of those in the 35-55 age group believe that. It’s not a huge difference, but I refer to this as the “they haven’t lived long enough” factor.

This reminded me of one of my corporate clients who decided to conduct a government relations orientation with their summer interns. These were well-educated, smart college students who received a very prestigious internship at this Fortune 100 Company. The government relations team conducted a workshop that included an update on issues that impact their industry (which is one of the most maligned in America), with plenty of entertainment and humor. The students not only gave a favorable feedback, they asked the staff how they could get more involved in championing company issues, and also wanted to have “regular lunches” with the government relations staff. The staff was pleasantly surprised at the positive response, as they had not experienced that with older new hires.

The bottom line: Younger employees and association members trust you. Engage them early and often in your legislative issues.

What Sources Do They Trust?

Interestingly, young opinion elites are more trusting of every source of information about a business than older elites. In order, the most trusted sources are:

Articles in business magazines 62%
Stock or industry analyst report 57%
Television news coverage 53%

What’s at the bottom? In order, blogs (26%), social networking sites (such as MySpace and Facebook) 25%, followed by web-based video sites such as YouTube, 25%.

Fifty-five percent of the older opinion elites trust information about a company that appears in business magazines. The same percent trusts stock or industry analyst reports, also followed by television coverage at 49%.

The bottom line #1: Where are you communicating your message? Know your audience and go to the sources they trust.

The bottom line #2: How much time are you spending on various communications vehicles? If you are spending 80% of your time on the methods that bring a 25% return, (blogs, social networking sites) that’s not a results-oriented mind set.

The bottom, bottom line: We have seen over the years that responses to the Trust Barometer have changed. Those you want to influence are a moving target. That is why it is vitally important to keep abreast of your audience and their preferences. “Know your people” is the bottom line.

Amy Showalter is president of The Showalter Group, Inc., a Cincinnati-based firm that advises trade associations, Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations on how to increase their grassroots and PAC effectiveness. Reach her at amy@showaltergroup.com.

Copyright 2009, The Showalter Group, Inc.
Reproduction is prohibited without written permission.

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Don't Say That! The 2008 List of Banished Words

I always instruct my presentation skills clients to do their best to avoid common clichés and phrases. People are inundated with information, and we need to be original to be heard.

To that end, one of my favorite web sites is the annual list of banished words published by Lake Superior State University. Anyone can recommend a word for banishment (is that a word?!) , and the postings are fun to read and quite insightful.

My favorites?

“Perfect storm”

“Organic”

“It is what it is”

And. . . .one that I’ve used quite often? “Give back.” Well, I figure it’s more noble than “take back.”

Read and laugh here: http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

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The Showalter Group, Inc.

The Showalter Group works with associations and corporations that want to increase their grassroots and PAC productivity. We provide highly customized solutions via grassroots consultation, public affairs staff and volunteer training, coaching for public affairs staff, keynote presentations, and grassroots project management.

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