A key conclusion of every market research and polling project I have conducted over the past 20 years is that customers and consumers consider trust to be the most important factor when assessing the "brand" reputation of corporations, not-for-profits, and political candidates Few researchers or business leaders would argue with the statement that developing a trust-based relationship with customers is key to a company's success.

The problem is that it is difficult to communicate trust. Trust implies depth and assurance of feeling that is often based on perceptions or inconclusive evidence. It is hard to define and measure and people use different words to express it. For example, confidence, reliability, and dependability all describe relationships based on trust. Some organizations choose one of these; others choose a different descriptor. But few know how these words or orientations resonate with their target audiences, given their perceived brand in the marketplace. To determine this, they need research.

Clients often ask me how they can most effectively position their companies as "trustworthy." My initial response is that it depends on context. How do senior decisionmakers define trust? How do competitors? What do your customers value, given the products and services you offer? What is your unique trust proposition?

Years of confronting the "trust issue" with clients has helped me develop a framework or roadmap, based on research, which can help answer these questions by defining and measuring trust. It has three components: (1) internal research with executives to determine current trust propositions; (2) external research with key stakeholders to test these propositions; and (3) tracking research to measure changes in trust over time.

Internal Research

The first and important stage in the research process is for senior management to achieve an internal consensus about what they believe are the key dimensions or attributes of the company that build and establish trust. Some will be attributes common to all companies:

• Transparency: Is the company honest and open with information about itself?
• Product service and quality: Can the company honestly recommend its products and services as offering quality and reliability?
• Product comparison: Does the company provide unbiased information so customers can compare its products and services to competitors?
• Incentives: Is the company committed to creating long-term relationships with its customers?

The greatest value of this exercise is the identification of attributes that senior managers believe are unique to their firm in communicating trust. A pharmaceutical company I worked with identified "corporate social responsibility" as the cornerstone of its trust with stakeholders. It was to be trusted because of its philanthropic efforts. A packed goods company identified commitment to its employees, such as letting them take time off from work to volunteer, as a company attribute that established trust with customers. This was viewed as more important than product attributes.

Internal research, usually in the form of moderator-led discussion or focus groups, defines the company attributes that senior managers believe establishes trust. This feedback is instrumental in painting a picture of how internal management perceives the company, what is about the company that makes it trustworthy and how it is different from competitors. It is important to include senior-level employees from each division of the company when conducting internal research because their views and perceptions often differ.

Once there is consensus on the attributes or characteristics of the company that establish trust, it is important to frame them into "trust propositions," or messages that can be used to construct communications strategies.

The next stage in the research process determines whether external stakeholders agree with senior management about what makes the company trustworthy. Gaps in perceptions reveal a flawed or misunderstood communications strategy.

External Research

The second stage in the research process is to conduct research among key external stakeholders — customers, partners, and other third-party influencers — to test reactions to the trust attributes that were identified internally. Are the attributes that customers define as important in establishing trust the same or different? If they are different, then communications will need to be reformulated.

For example, research conducted for the packaged goods company cited above showed that a "commitment to new products for changing consumer needs" was far more important than pursuing employee relations initiatives in establishing trust. Similarly, research for the pharmaceutical company cited above demonstrated that social responsibility was far less important in building trust than a "commitment to innovation to develop drugs for life-threatening diseases." This finding helped shape the company's entire corporate reputation campaign.

Research conducted during this second stage can be either qualitative (focus groups) or quantitative in nature (surveys) and must also identify the most convincing trust messages, the most credible messengers or spokespeople and tactics that are likely to be most effective.

Focus groups among consumers, for example, are ideally suited for establishing a consumer language. How do customers talk about your company? Why do they trust or not trust you? Quantitative surveys and polls are effective at testing alternative messages to determine which trust propositions are most effective and resonate as credible and believable calls-to-action.

Tracking Research

After developing communications that incorporate trust attributes and associated messaging tactics that have been tested with internal and external research, the next phase of the research process is to track changes in trust over time.

This is accomplished by conducting either telephone or online surveys with stakeholders that asks respondents the degree to which — usually on a 5- or 10-point scale — they associate the company with each of the trust attributes. Results will show whether perceptions have changed and communications are working.

Tracking research offers additional value than simply ascertaining whether you are moving the needle. It is instrumental in helping companies make mid-course corrections in messaging and tactics.

Case Study: Community Involved in Sustainable Agriculture's (CISA) Local Hero

Campaign CISA is a community-based organization in western Massachusetts that is dedicated to increasing local farmers' incomes and the use of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. While at a strategic polling firm I was hired to develop messaging and communications for a campaign targeted at primary food shoppers. The objective was to develop a call-to-action that would motivate consumers to purchase locally grown produce.

This campaign provides a good illustration of the important role research plays in defining and measuring trust. Research conducted followed the three-stage process identified above.

Internal Research

The first step in the research process was to work collaboratively with funders at the Kellogg Foundation, PR consultants, and local activists to develop a series of attributes about locally grown produce that would help establish trust among consumers. The overarching goal was to build a trust-based relationship between local producers and consumers so that the latter would be more likely to purchase locally grown produce.

Many of the individuals who worked on the campaign were environmentalists, and feedback they provided resulted in the development of a number of attributes of locally grown produce that describe trust.

• Safer: Pesticides are not used on locally grown food, so it is safer.
• Environmentally friendly: Agriculture practices used by local farmers protect the environment.
• Better tasting: Locally grown food tastes better.
• Better for you: Locally grown food is fresher.
• Better for everyone. Buying locally grown produce protects the planet for this and future generations.

Feedback provided resulted in the development of a number of potential messages or trust propositions that stressed the importance of protecting the environment and benefits associated with it. We also developed messages to test that stressed the benefits to consumers associated with buying locally grown produce.

We developed a series of 8 messages.

• When you buy locally grown foods you are helping to save the environment because local farmers use environmentally safe agricultural practices, like fewer pesticides.
• Locally grown foods are always safer because local farmers are less likely to use unsafe methods such as pesticides.
• Buying locally grown foods is a way for people to make a statement about making the future better for today's children.
• Buying locally grown foods is a way to improve your personal health and individual well-being.
• Locally grown food usually tastes better.
• When you buy locally grown food you are helping to preserve the rural character of your region.
• Buying locally grown food greatly contributes to the local economy.
• When you buy locally grown food you are supporting your neighbors.

Focused discussion during the internal research component of the research process also identified a number of potential messengers for the campaign that could be viewed as trustworthy in delivering the message. We developed a list of 13 potential messengers for the campaign.

• Owner of a popular restaurant
• College president
• State Senator
• National sports hero
• Musician
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Successful local farmer
• Health professional or doctor
• Business owner from the area
• U.S. Congressman
• Lt. Governor
• Popular meteorologist from a local station
• Locally elected government official

Internal research was used to develop a survey questionnaire to be conducted among primary food shoppers in western Massachusetts. The goal was to identify a trustworthy and believable campaign message and credible spokespersons.

External Research

I conducted a 20-minute telephone survey (about 70 questions) among 450 primary food shoppers in western Massachusetts to test messages and messengers. Respondents were asked to tell us how believable they found each message — a measure of trust — and which messengers were found convincing or trustworthy when speaking about locally grown food.

Results of the survey were surprising to the team because messages about the environment or product quality (fresher, tastes better) were not found as believable as messages that stressed the importance of contributing to the local economy or supporting your neighbors. Survey results clearly indicated that "trust" would be better established by stressing the benefits to the community by purchasing locally grown food than by stressing the benefits to the environment or the attributes of the product. Survey results are provided at left.

We received similar results on who is the most credible or trustworthy spokesperson. A local farmer was deemed to be the most credible and trustworthy person speaking about locally grown produce.

Respondents were read each messenger and asked whether they found each to be very credible, somewhat credible, not very credible, or not at all credible. The total in the far right column is the percentage that said that the messenger was either very or somewhat credible.

Research results helped us craft an awardwinning "Local Hero Campaign" that focused on the "local" message rather than benefits to the environment or product attributes of locally grown produce. Research showed that trust is built on the perceived benefits to the community rather than benefits to the environment or even to the individual.

This example illustrates the importance of using research — not gut instinct or compelling creative — to measure and define trust. If we had gone with initial instincts to stress the environment in the campaign, it would have been much less successful.

Tracking Research

Since its launch in 2001, CISA has conducted annual tracking research to measure awareness, recall, and favorability toward the Local Hero Campaign. From year to year, trust in locally grown produce, measured in recall of the campaign and purchase of locally grown produce, has remained high. This research has been instrumental in measuring the success of the campaign and in establishing and strengthening partnerships with producers and retailers. Tracking research has shown:

• Food shoppers continue to associate the campaign with benefits brought to the local community.
• Being a "local hero" is a much more effective call-to-action to purchase locally grown food than protecting the environment or product attributes related to taste and freshness.
• Trust has been established with CISA as the organization that is spearheading the effort for consumers to purchase locally grown food.

The expression "measure of trust" implies that trust can be measured. What better tool to measure it than research. As Zora Hurston, the African novelist, once said: "Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and that they dwell therein."