In the never ending "polling" business, one of the latest polls that came out was that American's trust of anything hit a new low.
Now these results are very interesting considering the fact that more American's socialize online than in real time and isn't everything you read online true?
They don't trust product reviews because they think they are rigged to sell the product. They don't trust product ratings because they think the seller makes more money on 5 star rating products than 3 star rating products. They don't trust what companies write on Facebook and Twitter since they think its for the own company's good. And this is just online data.
They don't trust the government, elected officials and now they don't trust Obama to deliver on the economy and health care although now they trust Obama on the Afghanistan issue. This is strange indeed because Obama wasn't elected because of his foreign affairs expertise.
Now they don't trust Tiger and most likely other athletes. They don't trust banks and other financial institutions. This poll didn't mention if they trust family members. But I wonder.....
Trust is an interesting word. It's printed or engraved on every piece of currency and has been well before we were born. In fact, "In God we trust" is actually the official USA motto and has been since 1956 although it was used way back in the 1850's. Perhaps it's a good thing the motto wasn't "In people we trust."
What is trust? Is it important in 2009? People bought Crest, Tide and Jif because they were trusted brands. Today people are buying generics because they are cheaper. People trust the stores they buy from more than the brands they purchase.
Or do they? Kroger is the largest supermarket in the USA. Most likely more American's have the Kroger Plus Card than any other membership card in their purse or wallet. But Kroger's sales are down and its customers are shopping at Walmart, Target and Aldi. Where's the trust when you need it?
For sure, trust is earned. It takes hard work and plenty of time to earn it. And in a flash, all the hard work and time could be worthless over one incident. But in today's world of reality TV when people will do the strangest things to get attention, trust is out the window and 15 minutes of fame is in no matter the price to get it.
Here's what I know: Trust is part of our credo which includes honesty and integrity. Without all three, what does one really have?
Happy Wednesday!
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