Malaysians trust business over government

Consumers trust is a main component and objective of marketers. How well a brand does in the market depends heavily on how the general public views the image and credibility of the brand – not to mention the reputation of the overall company.According to Edelman’s 2014 Trust Barometer, 80% of respondents in Malaysia trusted big businesses, while faith in the government dropped to 54% following the 13th General Election last year.“As Malaysia forges ahead with its ambition of transforming to a high-income economy by 2020, the government has shown that it is willing to make tough decisions such as subsidy cuts and introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in 2015 to achieve this goal,” said Raymond Siva, managing director of Edelman Malaysia.The report also showed those NGOs and the media both with no significant hike or decrease in trust value; however, business and government spanned on opposite spectrum with the former recording a nine-point jump to 72% and the latter a six-point decline.The increased trust in business in Malaysia this year reflects the overall regard of the public to brands’ shareholder values and standard of governance. Despite the lowered index of trust in government, Siva said that the Malaysian government still remains in positive territory with over half of respondents saying they trusted the institution in question, “making Malaysia one of the only 10 countries to do so.”Globally, the gap between trust in business and government has never been so large. However, 33% of respondents said the most important role of the government is to protect consumers from irresponsible business practices, with 20% citing they’d want the government to build infrastructure that promotes and facilitates business. Another 20% wanted the government to ensure free market access and open competition within industries.The most interesting segment of the finding is in the type of businesses Malaysians trust more. Turns out, publicly traded and big businesses commanded more credibility from Malaysians, with state-owned businesses dropping to 59% from 63% the previous year. Brands that Malaysians trusted most come from developed markets, such as Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and Switzerland. Products from India paled in comparison to other developing markets with only 44% of respondents showing support. The technology sector along with consumer electronics and automotive ranked as the top three most trusted industries, while telecommunications and consumer health companies falling slightly behind. The brewing and spirits industry along with the media and entertainment fell to the bottom three. That being said, the media has reported a stable trust index, sliding only one point from last year. Unlike the previous years, the online source as a vehicle of information to industries analysed in the barometer is more prevalent than ever, recording a 9% climb to 79% this year. Social media ranges in the mid-range with 59% of the public citing that they would refer to the platform for reliable information. Traditional media made a small, but positive push to 64% from its 61% standing last year.Brands looking to engage with its consumers must learn to utilise its digital assets to retain the attention of its consumers. More than ever, it is crucial for brands to have presence online – tapping into SEO, keywords and other search avenue online, as local and global consumers gravitate towards digital platforms to support decision making. Finally, Siva concluded that engagement and integrity are the two key attributes to building trust. When compared to consumer expectations, industries across every sector fail to meet their demands on every level – be it integrity and engagement or product and services, purpose and operations. In one quick summary, Malaysian consumers and the public are generally trusting of its businesses and government. However, at the helm of the four sectors surveyed, its leads and chiefs are encouraged to communicate clearly and transparently; 86% of Malaysians placed significance on this one attribute to gaining their trust. The Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed 33,000 respondents from 27 countries with 1,000 respondents from each country to make up the general public results. Two hundred informed public came from Malaysia and 25 other countries; 500 respondents in the U.S. and China. All informed public met a stringent criteria of education, income, and understanding of current events.The four sectors included in the survey are non-profit organisations, business, media and government.