The public’s trust in business is in a period of steep decline. However, business is not the only casualty in this modern era of skepticism and distrust.

News headlines and everyday conversations reveal that trust in government, media, science, religion, law enforcement, and the judicial process are all dwindling as well. In fact, the 2018 Edelman Trust Index report declares,

“In a year marked by turbulence at home and abroad, trust in institutions in the United States crashed, posting the steepest, most dramatic general population decline the Trust Barometer has ever measured.”

It goes on to say that the cumulative effect of this distrust has negatively affected the American brand domestically and abroad.

It goes on to say that the cumulative effect of this distrust has negatively affected the American brand domestically and abroad.

Trust in American-based businesses has fallen 5% in the last year alone, adding to a disturbing downward trend that has left US businesses lagging behind their competition in other developed countries. This 5-point drop was the largest decline of any country surveyed globally.

The Edelman Trust Barometer is careful to point out that while business is not the only loser on the battleground of public opinion, it is a substantial piece of the puzzle. With a 37-point aggregate drop in trust across all major US institutions, some industry sectors have fallen more rapidly than others.

Technology and education top the list of trusted sectors, while financial services and consumer packaged goods found themselves at the bottom of the trust index.

Reversing the downward spiral of public trust in business requires a thorough understanding of what re-establishes trust and how modern brands can embrace credibility in their strategic planning.

• How can a Business Rebuild Public Trust?
• How can you Survive the Collapse of Trust in your Business?
• How to improve trust with employees
• How to improve trust with customers
• What are 6 Ways to Repair a Decline in Social Trust
• What is American’s Solution to Trust-related Issues?

How can a Business Rebuild Public Trust?

Declining trust in business does not have to be a permanent trend. Individual organizations and American business as whole can rebuild public trust using these four actionable strategies:

1. Establish Authority

While trust in business sectors and even individual brands has plummeted, research shows that trust in CEOs, executive boards, and subject matter experts has remained steady. The study asserts, “In business as in media, the institution is being held to a higher standard than the people within it.”

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This perception applies not only to management, but also individual contributors. In fact, technical experts and academic experts lead the way with 63% and 61% confidence rates, respectively.

The Edelman Trust Index showed similar sentiment, reporting

“This past year saw CEO credibility rise sharply by seven points to 44 percent after a number of high-profile business leaders voiced their positions on the issues of the day. Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they want CEOs to take the lead on policy change… This show of faith comes with new expectations; building trust is now the No. 1 job for CEOs.”

Organizations can capitalize on this trend by establishing authority through their leadership and oversight boards. Using senior-level executives, founders, and trustees as brand spokespeople to re-establish credibility is a shrewd strategy for breaking the cycle of distrust.

However, genuine trust requires more than providing CEOs with talking points. It demands a commitment to utilizing credible personas across all levels to further business objectives while altering the broader landscape of consumer perception.

2. Provide Quality

Providing sub-par offerings leaves consumers feeling undervalued and even deceived, which is an insurmountable barrier to building and maintaining trust.

Organizations that provide disappointing products and services will always lose public trust, which is why the simplest way to build trust is to sell quality offerings and stand behind them.

A recent study revealed that 52% of Americans trust companies much more and 27% trust companies somewhat more if they provide quality products and services.

However, providing high-quality products is just the starting point for rebuilding trust. Organizations must then stand behind their offerings by providing support and value at every stage of the customer journey.

Relationship building that starts with quality products and services provides the foundation for unshakeable trust. Utilizing generous return policies and guarantees proves to consumers that an organization is committed to their ongoing satisfaction.

3. Leverage Internal Trust

The Edelman Trust Barometer explains,

“Business is now expected to be an agent of change. The employer is the new safe house in global governance, with 72 percent of respondents saying that they trust their own company.”

Organizations can utilize this internal trust to drive external trust as well.

By using employees as brand advocates and spokespeople, organizations can win public trust in a way that is organic. Letting employees act as beacons of trust is a grass-roots approach that can pave the way to broader consumer trust with minimal investment requirements.

This same study revealed that 64% of Americans believe that organizations can simultaneously increase profits and improve social and economic conditions for others.

However, for this symbiosis to occur organizations must be share internal mission statements and values with consumers to be held accountable. This transparency is crucial for developing widespread trust.

4. Connect with the Community

Tuning into the needs of the local community and pledging to give back is another key strategy for building trust. Research from 2015 reveals that 54% of respondents trust a company significantly more and 28% trust a company slightly more if it makes an earnest effort to help society.

Consumers that are more engaged in their communities have even higher expectations for organizations, making community outreach a top priority for modern companies in all industries.

However, this is not a new concept. Over the last several decades, community involvement has become a more widespread expectation among big businesses.

The difference is that modern businesses are now feeling the weight of consumers’ expectations to connect in more meaningful ways. Instead of simply giving back a percentage of revenue, consumers are looking for organizations to volunteer time and other resources to build community and genuinely improve people’s lives first-hand.

Accompanying philanthropic efforts, consumers expect to see organizations promoting internal policies to better employees’ standard of living as well. Moreover, consumers are making trust contingent upon organizational efforts to increase diversity and provide career opportunities to protected classes.  

How can you Survive the Collapse of Trust in your Business?

There is one thing that has the power to kill your business, regardless of the quality of goods or services you provide: Lack of trust.

While trust is fundamental to any relationship, in business it is an essential strategic asset. Without it, both employees and customers will go elsewhere.

From 2017 to 2018, public trust in the U.S. plunged from 52 points to 43 points on the Trust Index, the largest recorded drop of all countries evaluated, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer.

People are losing faith in all of the evaluated institutions: non-governmental organizations (-9%), government (-14%), media (-5%), and business (-10%).

The collapse of trust can be an opportunity

Despite this widespread decline, the majority of respondents believe businesses and their leaders can become agents of change, according to The Trust Barometer.

• 44% of respondents regard CEOs as very or extremely credible spokespeople, compared to 35% who say the same about government officials
• 64% of respondents say CEOs should drive change instead of waiting for the government
• 84% expect CEOs to inform policy debates on issues such as jobs, the economy, automation, regulations, globalization, corruption, global warming, discrimination, immigration, and others.

Trust in business has never been more important. Employees and customers alike are demanding accountability and reliability.

According to the Trust Barometer, 82% of respondents believe employees should speak up if they see their company doing wrong.

Another 63% agree with the statement:

“A good reputation may get me to try a product—but unless I come to trust the company behind the product I will soon stop buying it, regardless of its reputation.”

How to improve trust with employees

1. Improve communication and transparency

Clear and consistent communication is critical to building trust in business. If employees feel like you are keeping them in the dark about important decisions, they will not only distrust you, they will resist any change you initiate.

Boost transparency by establishing open channels of communication. Make sure your employees know their ideas are welcome and will be taken seriously. Leaders, increase your presence around the company. Everyone in the company should know your face.

In large corporations with hundreds or even thousands of people, it may not be possible to meet each individual employee. But with social media platforms like LinkedIn and enterprise communication tools like Slack, it’s easy to stay connected.

2. Make change management painless

People are inherently wary of change. Fear of the unfamiliar is one reason. Disrupted workflow is another. Whatever the reason, if leadership fails to deploy effective change management techniques, the change initiative is prone to fail.

Leaders need employees’ trust to make the change go smoothly, and employees need to trust leadership not to completely throw a wrench in their workflow. The solution lies in finding the right processes, communication and change management tools.

A Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) is a proven change management solution. It uses contextual guidance and real-time, navigational prompts to guide users through any web-based or desktop app. For digital transitions, there is no better solution. 

No more frustration, no more time-consuming training sessions, no more stress. The extra steps you take to make change easier for employees will not go unrecognized, and this will translate into higher levels of trust.

3. Provide better benefits

Employees often use benefits to gauge how much a company values them. You can gain their trust and loyalty by providing the right kind.

Prove to your employees that you care about their well-being by providing benefits that promote wellness. Companies increasingly offer perks like discounted gym memberships, healthy food in the office, onsite yoga, nap rooms, massages, and more to help employees stay healthy and happy.

These are benefits with benefits. In addition to building trust. employee stress will go down while health and well-being rise. As a result, employee engagement and productivity will also increase. Competitive benefits make it easier to attract new candidates and retain all-star employees.

How to improve trust with customers

1. Embed your core values into your brand

More than ever before, consumers link buying decisions to corporate values.

The vast majority of American shoppers (87%) said they will purchase a product because a company advocated for an issue that’s important to them, according to the 2017 Cone Communications CSR Study. Another 76% will not purchase products or services from a company upon learning it supports an issue they oppose.

Once considered a huge no-no for businesses, consumers now want organizations—namely, CEOs—to take a stance on pressing issues.

Taking a position on a sensitive social or political topic runs the risk of alienating some customers, so CEOs must think carefully before doing so. However, becoming an advocate for certain issues can actually strengthen the company’s brand.

2. Provide high-quality products and services consistently

This one is kind of a no-brainer, but we can elaborate. If you want someone to trust you and become a repeat customer, don’t make them regret giving you their money.

The quality of products and services is directly tied to the level of trust in business. Improving your offerings should be an ongoing goal. One way to keep progress continual is to solicit feedback from your customers. Ask them how you can improve, then actually take those suggestions into account.

3. Take responsibility for your mistakes

Accidents happen. People make mistakes. It’s not good when your company’s name becomes the subject of negative press, but it’s possible to recover with the right approach.

Take the iconic case of the Tylenol poisonings of 1982. After an unidentified person in Chicago laced Tylenol bottles with cyanide, seven people died. The crisis could have destroyed the company, but it didn’t.

Tylenol was able to maintain the public’s trust because it showed it puts public safety above profits: the company temporarily pulled all of its products from the shelves (costing it millions of dollars), issued national warnings not to take its drugs, and implemented preventative safety measures.

What are 6 Ways to Repair a Decline in Social Trust

Societies can replenish trust and social cohesion, short of social or political revolution, by taking several concrete steps:

1. Make sure institutions are effective and deliver real benefits for people

The most important determinant of social trust in institutions—whether schools, hospitals, libraries, law enforcement agencies, sanitation departments, or local governments—is how well they do their jobs and whether they provide real value to citizens.

Day-to-day execution may not be glamorous or headline-grabbing, but it is ultimately what matters.

The good news is that institutions can learn and improve on execution, and there are many resources—among them, the book Execution: The Discipline of Getting It Done—to help. Of course, those who wield power usually won’t give it up easily or necessarily provide others with opportunity, but improving the efficacy and impact of institutions is possible.

It requires that organizations align their commitment and incentives, and have the will to follow through. It also helps if citizens are aware of their timely, reliable, and effective performance, since awareness of past behavior builds trust in the future.

Businesses, governments, educational institutions, aid agencies, and others can all contribute to making institutions more effective.

2. Develop future leaders who work for the greater good, not for themselves

In far too many countries, government leaders hold on to office for decades. Many of them suppress opposition, use their offices to benefit themselves and their allies, and do little to strengthen overall accountability or transparency.

It’s often more challenging to reform entrenched leaders like these, than to nurture new ones who will work for the public good and not enrich themselves at public expense.

Leaders who cling to power present a global challenge, but it may be particularly evident in Africa, where aging officials lead some of the youngest populations in the world. Indeed, 28 of the 30 youngest countries in the world are in Africa, as are 7 of the world’s 10 oldest leaders.

This mismatch leaves precious few opportunities for young, aspiring leaders to emerge, despite increased pluralism and democracy at the national, regional, and local levels. And when opportunities are lacking—both in Africa and elsewhere—many young people go abroad, draining their countries of precious talent.

Countries everywhere need to develop pipelines of talented leaders and opportunities for people with diverse views and backgrounds to participate in governance, business, and civic life.

That’s the idea behind the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which identifies promising young Africans and nurtures their skills and knowledge to eventually build the institutions and strengthen the democratic norms in their home countries.

It’s also what animated the Ford Foundation’s $280 million investment in the International Fellowships Program, which sought to support the next generation of social changemakers in developing countries.

3. Strengthen accountability and transparency

In many countries, corruption is insidious, and Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index found that most countries are making little or no progress in their quests to eliminate it.

But, as Transparency International has advocated, there are remedies, including: breaking the cycle of impunity through effective law enforcement; improving financial management and auditing; ensuring greater government openness, freedom of the press, and information access; giving citizens greater abilities to monitor and call out potential corruption; and stopping banks and other offshore financial institutions from laundering illicit flows of money.

We tend to think of corruption as something so entrenched it can’t ever change. But many countries have overcome legacies of corruption, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Georgia, and Rwanda. In Kazakhstan, a US effort is returning money stolen by officials to citizens, to support social services and education programs.

Many institutions can contribute to greater transparency and accountability. An independent media sector can expose corruption and missteps. Courts and law enforcement agencies can ensure that even powerful figures can’t act with impunity.

So-called “sunshine laws” can require that government makes its data, including spending and budget information, public. Open government and e-government services can reduce corruption by making procurement processes transparent and bringing services directly to citizens.

4. Engage citizens in solving community and societal challenges

Trust builds when people feel they are part of a community- or society-wide enterprise that takes their concerns and voices into account—particularly in circumstances where trust is low.

Consider Ukraine, where citizens historically distrusted the notoriously corrupt police force, which routinely stopped citizens arbitrarily to demand bribes. Following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution that ushered in a reform government with an anti-corruption mandate, Ukraine’s government instituted nationwide police reform, recruiting a whole new cadre of community police.

But trust didn’t come overnight; the government needed to take deliberate action to change public attitudes and set new expectations. One such effort is a program called the Citizen Engagement and Reform Communication Program, which has so far brought together more than 11,000 Ukrainian citizens, NGO leaders, and media to meet with local police.

The encounters have given police more sensitivity to community needs and concerns; have led to meaningful policy reforms, such as creating a specialized force to respond more effectively to instances of domestic violence; and have resulted in greater understanding and respect for the role police play in society.

Citizens who participated in the initiative increased positive attitudes towards police from 40 percent to 73 percent, suggesting they now hold significantly greater trust in police officers. 

5. Strengthen social inclusion

When people feel they’re blocked from opportunities because of their gender, race, age, ethnic or religious group, disability, or other reasons, it’s hard to expect them to trust the institutions they feel are marginalizing them.

Sectarian divisions in many countries have profoundly undermined good governance and economic prosperity, and all too frequently formed the pretext to group violence and displacement.

An exhaustive 2013 World Bank study, as well as successive World Bank reports, identifies a multitude of ways to improve social inclusion. Land-redistribution reforms that give longstanding residents an opportunity to own land; access to banking, and finance, education, and skills training help many people overcome economic barriers.

The report also advocates for accommodations for people with disabilities; affordable transportation; fair treatment in courts; better “cultural competency” among health and social service providers working with people from diverse backgrounds; use of multiple languages in public communications; and conscious, concrete efforts to integrate immigrants and others into mainstream social systems.

It also means giving girls and women the basic and higher-level education they need to thrive, quality healthcare, and full access to economic and political opportunities.

6. Establish real commitment

None of these steps can occur unless government, business, civic, and other institutional leaders make a sincere effort to acknowledge the problem of social trust, and to take steps to improve their policies, practices, and rhetoric.

Leadership that addresses the trust deficit can come from many quarters. It can come from institutions themselves, whether business, government, civil society, or the media. It can come at the global, national, regional, local, and even neighborhood level. Citizens can organize and drive grassroots change.

Each of us can take steps to rebuild trust within our communities. We can also demand that the government officials we support with our votes and tax dollars, and the businesses we patronize, behave in ways that contribute to social trust.

Philanthropists, NGOs, and social investors have a role to play too. By developing and supporting initiatives that advance social trust, they can create building blocks that add up to greater trust. They can also support efforts to study what works. We know a lot about what erodes trust. We know too little about how to rebuild it.

The data, evidentiary base, and analytical underpinnings for how to restore social trust are weak, yet the stakes are high. Communities and even whole nations that don’t follow through with these and other ways to rebuild and maintain their citizens’ trust risk facing compounding crises; they will likely lack the unity and social capital they need to compete, let alone thrive.

In her book A Savage Order: How the World’s Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security, author Rachel Kleinfeld suggests that trust is society’s immune system. We need it to protect us against a host of other social ills.

Rebuilding social trust is possible and, perhaps, the wounds of social distrust will heal on their own. But hope is not a strategy. A more responsible approach is to take steps, proactively and preventively, to restore trust across government, business, and civic institutions. It’s a goal we can all advance.

What is American’s Solution to Trust-related Issues?

Most believe that Americans’ trust in their government and in each other can be improved. They propose an array of solutions to achieve these improvements, including increasing government transparency, improving community cooperation and performing individual acts of kindness.

A share of the public thinks that more political compromise on national issues could restore trust both in the federal government and in interpersonal relationships. Some make the case that more media focus on positive stories, like acts of collaboration, might inspire greater trust.

Overall, large majorities of Americans have hope that trust can be improved: 84% believe it is possible to improve the level of confidence Americans have in the federal government, and 86% believe it is possible to increase the confidence Americans have in each other.

Substantial majorities across demographic groups and political persuasions embrace the idea that progress can be made, but some other variances among groups are worth noting.

One consistent pattern is that those who are high on the personal trust scale are more likely than those who are low trusters to think that improvement is possible.

Although majorities of all demographic and political groups say it is possible to improve Americans’ confidence in the federal government, differences between groups still exist. For instance, whites (87%) are more likely than black (71%) or Hispanic adults (81%) to say that the level of confidence in the federal government can be improved.

Those with college degrees or higher are more likely than those without a college degree to think things can be improved (91% vs. 81%, respectively).

A similar gap exists between those living in households earning $75,000 or more and those in households earning less than $30,000 (91% vs. 77%). Patterns are similar when it comes to interpersonal trust.

Many think increasing government transparency and fixing leadership problems can increase confidence in the federal government

When they consider the past 20 years, those who are concerned about Americans’ declining confidence in the federal government cite a host of factors they think caused the decline, including polarization and gridlock, the overall poor performance of government, the role of money in politics, President Trump’s performance and behavior, and problems with media coverage of politics.

Those who believe the situation can improve sketch out a variety of strategies for making things better.

About three-quarters (73%) of those who think it is possible to improve Americans’ confidence in the federal government offered an answer to the open-ended question we asked about solutions.

About a quarter of them (23%) recommend political reforms, including less secrecy in government activities, more honesty from politicians, term limits and curtailing the role of money in politics.

Another 15% call for general improvements in political leadership, while 7% specifically seek remedies to Trump’s behaviors and performance as a solution. Some 12% think collaborative problem solving that brings people together might prompt a better kind of national politics.

An additional 8% cite policy fixes related to issues like taxing and spending, economic disparities and social safety net issues would increase confidence in the federal government.

In their written responses explaining how Americans’ confidence in government could be approved, many advocated for change in political culture and systems.

One man, 49, advocated a wholesale makeover of political culture: “Our horrible, polarized, dysfunctional federal government is a result of an ignorant, naive, misinformed, polarized electorate addicted to social media and stupid entertainments.

And it’s a result of gerrymandering, and the flawed electoral college system of electing a president. And of the overrepresentation of rural red states in the Senate. A good first step to improving confidence in the federal government would be to change the makeup of the government to better reflect the electorate.”

Others wrote that the quality of leadership has a direct effect on trust. A 69-year-old man wrote: “Elected officials with integrity would help immensely. I believe it is unethical to run for office based on criticism of your opponent. Sadly, people are elected based on who tells the best or most popular lies.”

Trump was prominently mentioned in a notable share of answers. At times, respondents like this woman, 51, argued that his departure from the scene would be helpful: “We are currently without a leader of any kind. Trump is the opposite of a leader, dividing and inflaming at every turn. He represents the death of democracy in America.”

Some argued the exact opposite and said allowing Trump to do his job would be a trust restorative. A 45-year-old woman put it this way: “President Trump’s agenda is constantly hitting roadblocks through the media’s biased coverage and the unnecessary investigations, a.k.a. the ‘witch hunt,’ to pave way for impeachment.

Trump was elected based on his promises and he is doing an amazing job keeping his promises. A huge step to improve confidence in the federal government would be to let Trump do his job with accurate news coverage.”

A number of respondents pressed for reducing the role of money in politics because they think it distorts priorities in trust-harming ways. Said one man, 63: “We are not represented properly. Special interest groups and corporations run the government. Take money out of politics! If an elected official is sponsored by a special interest group, who is that official going to represent? It’s not complicated.”

A similar fix-it approach came from this 52-year-old Gen X man: “Appoint people with ethics and the public at heart. Stop appointing people from industries they will oversee.

Stop income inequality and stop trickle-down economics and tax breaks to the rich. Get more money into the middle class and to the poor. Stop making the rich richer and stop creating an oligarchy.”

Some respondents cited policy solutions they think would make people feel more confident about their government and its role in their lives. One wide-ranging answer came from a 68-year-old woman: “Guaranteeing affordable health care.

Reining in election spending. Reining in corporate lobbying and campaign spending. Meeting obligations to veterans. Leading the Judiciary in sentencing reform and de-incarceration of matured, stable prisoners. Demilitarizing law enforcement.

Reforming environmental regulation to be more equitable and less ponderous. Reforming agricultural protections to benefit smaller enterprises. Protecting the security of elections and electronic communication.”

Another woman took a different tack and argued that trust would increase if the federal government only focused on the matters it could effectively tackle. As she put it: “If we would face reality that the federal government … should not and is not able to solve all our problems. If it would focus on limited governing, and do that well, confidence could be improved.”

Some Americans argued that the tone and focus of the news media are at fault and that confidence in government would be restored with changes there.

As a woman, 63, put it: “News media reports only the negative and sensationalizes it and ignores everything positive. If the public was given more positive information about things the government has done, confidence of the American people could be elevated.”

Others, like this 27-year-old man, made the case for compromise and greater reliance on expertise: “If our elected officials, including POTUS, made an actual effort to work together and compromise, that might improve trust. Additionally, if elected officials actually believed their country’s experts (e.g., scientists) and took heed of reports and recommendations, that may also improve confidence.”

A 52-year-old woman wrote about historic trends: “Confidence in the federal government has been eroding steadily over time. Watergate was the first blow to confidence in the federal government, then starting with Bill Clinton it has gone into a deep dive. People need to open their minds to others’ opinions rather than just holding onto what they already believe. The media and social media could do a better job of reporting the truth and setting the agenda, encouraging people to build bridges rather than creating continual division.”

Many Americans say interpersonal trust problems can be fixed with outreach efforts in their community and acts of kindness

Some 72% of those who think it is possible to improve the level of confidence Americans have in each other answered an open-ended question seeking their ideas for solutions.

The most common recommendations among this group are for people to change their interpersonal behavior, with three-in-ten Americans (30%) offering proposals along those lines.

These responses included suggestions that people be less tribal and partisan – that if people spent more time getting to know others, especially those whose views did not align with their own, they would end up finding interests or ideas in common. That, they argued, would increase trust.

One illustrative quote from open-ended answers in the survey came from a 66-year-old woman: “Each one of us must reach out to others. Even people who are the same, but unknown to you, an individual may distrust.

It takes interaction with people face-to-face to realize that we do all inhabit this space and have a vested interest in working together to make it a successful, safe, and environmentally secure place to live. No man is an island.”

A related thought from a 47-year-old man: “Intentionally creating dialogue between differing sides: police with community members, principals with parents, politicians with each other, liberals and conservatives, different religious groups, etc. Skilled moderators probably will be necessary.”

Another group of respondents concentrates on the virtues of being kind and cooperating with others. Many of them believe that neighbors working side-by-side on local projects would inevitably lead to more trusting relationships in communities, and that such projects would draw people out of more isolated and lonely circumstances.

One woman, 79, put it this way: “Seek common ground that engages as many as possible in the community and organize around a project that addresses that common concern.”

A third group of answers that fell in this category relate to individual accountability. These individuals argue that interpersonal trust would grow if people took responsibility for their lives and modeled trustworthy behavior for others.

An illustrative quote from open-ended answers in the survey came from a 34-year-old woman, who said trust would improve if the country had “more people displaying more effort to take care of themselves, their health, their finances, their life-altering choices. Someone who can’t take care of themselves can’t be assumed to be able to take care of anything outside of themselves.”

Another 32-year-old woman said, “Get to know your local community. Take small steps towards improving daily life, even if it’s just a trash pickup. If people feel engaged with their environment and with each other, and they can work together even in a small way, I think that builds a foundation for working together on more weighty issues.”

One-in-ten (10%) who think interpersonal trust can be improved look at the role leaders play in setting the tone for the culture. They assert that better, more inspiring and less divisive leaders would set a tone for the country that would affect the way Americans think about the trustworthiness of others.

For example, one 58-year-old man argued: “It starts with our leaders including: federal government, local governments, schools, businesses, etc. They must set examples for the people, showing honesty, integrity, and welfare for others and being less selfish. This would have a trickle-down effect on the whole. Until this happens, don’t plan on it getting any better.”

Some 8% seek improvements in media culture as the pathway to better person-to-person relationships. They attack things like “fake news,” biased coverage, one-sided story-telling and the way journalists focus on negative, divisive and sensational narrative lines.

As one participant, a 42-year-old man, put it: “I believe that the media stokes much of the discord in public today. I think that sensationalism and opinion should be reduced and replaced by unbiased journalism as often as possible.”

A portion of respondents (2%) make the case that more good news about successes and feats of collaboration would show a side of community life that could ease interpersonal tensions and help people see that the world is not relentlessly foul.

Here is how one 48-year-old man sees it: “News and media show all the negative/bad things going on, so people are not trusting of anyone. Media should show more of the good news and the good people do, rather than always reporting the bad things.”

A few Americans believe that Trump and his allies have made it harder to trust others; fewer make that argument about Democrats, but that did come up in fewer than 1% of the answers.

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Others believe that improvements in policy areas or education spaces might ease interpersonal distrust. A portion of Americans also see a cause-effect connection between digital technology and social pathologies.

They think that the degree to which people, especially younger Americans, spend time with their screens means they have withdrawn from interacting with others and that personal trust takes a hit. “I think society needs to not be glued to electronics and social media,” wrote a 51-year-old woman. “This affects people’s social skills and it often keeps them from dealing with reality.”

Finally

We see the consequences of distrust everyday. The rise of fake news has crippled the mainstream media’s credibility. Scandal and instability have driven many to lose faith in governments around the world.

If lost, trust is difficult—if not impossible—to rebuild.

Trust in business is critical to maintaining a loyal customer base and an engaged and productive workforce. With high levels of trust, companies will see turnover decline and morale rise. They’ll be able to grow customer loyalty without gimmicks or tricks.