“Consumers trust other consumers more than they trust brands.”
I come across this statement a lot. Mostly in blogs and books/articles about social media. The authors usually back this statement with results from one survey or another.
As if that settles anything. Ask people who they trust more—other consumers or brands—and the majority will choose other consumers.
Most people won’t accept that they’re influenced by brands and brand marketing. They see themselves—and want others to see them as—more savvy than that.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t influenced by brands. Decades of studies demonstrate that they are, but—the majority of the time—they’re not aware of being influenced. The effects of influence take place mostly in the unconscious, and we have no way of accessing the unconscious.
In fact, the real question isn’t whether brand matters, but whether trust matters. There is reason to believe that trust may be overrated as a decision factor. Here’s an example:
Trust in big banks is almost non-existent these days, yet a number of big banks recently had an incredible year. “I don’t trust big banks,” doesn’t seem to be translating into, “I won’t use big banks.”
A brand simply can’t be reduced to a concept like trust—it’s much more complex than that.
The whole brand, in all of its complexity, is something our rational minds may never understand, but always underestimate.
Welcome to Outside-In Banking, a blog for bank marketers and anyone else involved in financial services. I believe that many banks are way too internally focused for their own good, so I try to provide an outside-in perspective. Expect a lot of opinions, raves, rants, and unsolicited advice. I hope to get the same from you. 
There are a lot of different aspects to trust. All “trust” means is that I think I can count on someone (or something, like a bank) to deliver on a certain promise. A woman can trust her husband to always be financially responsible but not trust him to be faithful. Similarly consumers can trust financial institutions to handle the mechanics of money management while distrusting financial institutions’ motives and priorities. The snide undercurrent for any business in any industry is that people know “you’re out to make a buck.”
Trust. Ethics. Morality. All gray areas, seldom black-and-white.
Jeff, I agree with you completely about trust. However, my point was that statements like,”consumers trust other consumers more than they trust brands,” are suspect. The statement itself connotes something other than trusting a bank with their money, as few consumers would trust their money to other consumers.
Again, I’m with you on the trust thing. My concern is with statement that sound better than they are becoming anthems.
Like always, I am late to the party.
Take 1: Trust is influenced by actions derived from people. It is those actions that influence how we respond to brands. People and experiences build brands.
Take 2: In the PFM world, we find consumer are more likely to “trust” PFM from an FI. But wait, I too hear they do not trust banks in general. So what gives? Is it the brick and mortar aspect? Is it the money beyond the vault? Yes, there are many facets to “trust”. But, I don’t think trust is why people elect to bank at one bank versus another. I say ease and convenience are the real drivers. Until we make banking less of a chore, that just may well be the way it stays.