The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

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© Edelman, 2012. All rights reserved. Consumer Trust in the Food Industry: Trends and Opportunities MARY K. YOUNG, MS, RD June 28, 2012

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The Obesity epidemic. Pink Slime. Fat taxes. Soda taxes. Animal Welfare. Food Safety. With issues like these grabbing headlines and driving conversation you might think trust in the food and beverage industry would be low. You’d be wrong. In fact, the food and beverage industry enjoys a relatively high level of global trust according the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer. But there’s more to the story when you look at the numbers. Almost three-quarters (72%) of those surveyed say they neither trust nor distrust the food and beverage industry. That’s a large segment of swing voters whose “vote” of trust could be swayed one way or the other. That means food and beverage companies today have a great opportunity to engage consumers with their brand stories, but are also at risk if they take a mis-step.

Transcript of The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Page 1: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

© Edelman, 2012. All rights reserved.

Consumer Trust in the Food Industry: Trends and Opportunities MARY K. YOUNG, MS, RD June 28, 2012

Page 2: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Trust is Higher for Food & Beverage Industry

Q11 -14. [Business in General TRACKING] Below is a list of institutions. For each one, please indicate how much you trust that institution to do what is right using a 9-point scale where one means that you 'do not trust them at all' and nine means that you 'trust them a great deal'. (Top 4 Box – Trust), General Population, Global 25-Country Total; Q16-26. [Food & Beverage TRACKING] Please indicate how much you trust businesses in each of the following industries to do what is right. Again, please use the same 9-point scale where one means that you 'do not trust them at all' and nine means that you 'trust them a great deal'. (Top 4 Box, Trust), General Population, 25-Country Global Total

47% Trust in Business

63% Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry

GENERAL PUBLIC

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Food &BeverageIndustry Trust

Business Trust

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Page 3: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Food & Beverage is Second Most Trusted Industry Globally

Q16-26. [TRACKING] Please indicate how much you trust businesses in each of the following industries to do what is right. Again, please use the same 9-point scale where one means that you 'do not trust them at all' and nine means that you 'trust them a great deal'. (Top 4 Box, Trust), General Population, 25-Country Global Total

GENERAL PUBLIC

43%

48%

49%

50%

53%

57%

57%

58%

62%

63%

76%

Financial Services

Media

Banks

Brewing and Spirits

Energy

Pharmaceuticals

Consumer Packaged Goods

Telecommunications

Automotive

Food and Beverage

Technology

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Page 4: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Food & Beverage Follows Trends of, but Remains Lower than, Automotive & Tech Industries

Q16-26. [Food & Beverage TRACKING] Please indicate how much you trust businesses in each of the following industries to do what is right. Again, please use the same 9-point scale where one means that you “do not trust them at all” and nine means that you “trust them a great deal”. (Top 4 Box, Trust), Informed Publics ages 25-64, 20-Country Global Total (excludes Argentina, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE)

56%

61%

64% 64% 58%

63%

67% 66%

76%

79% 80%

79%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2009 2010 2011 2012

Food & Beverage Industry Automotive Industry Technology Industry

INFORMED PUBLIC 25-64

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Page 5: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Over the Past Year Food & Beverage Lost Trust in Six Markets, and Gained Trust in Five

Q16-26. [Food & Beverage TRACKING] Please indicate how much you trust businesses in each of the following industries to do what is right. Again, please use the same 9-point scale where one means that you “do not trust them at all” and nine means that you “trust them a great deal”. (Top 4 Box – Trust), Tracking Informed Public 25-64, 25 Individual Country, 20-Country Global Total (excludes Argentina, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE)

INFORMED PUBLIC 25-64

64%

54% 56%

50%

69% 65%

52%

37%

68%

78%

64%

77%

67% 66%

72%

89%

83%

89%

80%

49%

56%

89%

64% 67%

64%

74% 72%

62%

79% 75%

59%

43%

74%

78%

60%

73%

63% 62%

67%

84%

76%

81%

70%

38%

45%

77%

45%

48%

75%

70%

2011 2012

50%

N/A

Trust Steady Trust Trust

N/A

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Page 6: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

A Large Majority of the Global Population Falls in the Swing Category

GENERAL PUBLIC

Trusters 5,621, 22%

Swing 17,900,

72%

Distrusters 1,234, 5%

Trusters 5,621

Swing 17,900

Distrusters 1,234

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86% 82%

59%

74%

54% 56%

43%

35%

Q149-160. [TRACKING] Below is a list of places where you might get information about a company. For each, please indicate if you trust it a great deal, somewhat, not too much, or not at all as a source of information about a company. (Trust, Top 3-4), General Population, 25 country global total; [Trusters=Top 2 Box (8-9), Swing =5, Distrusters=Bottom 2 Box (1-2) on a 1-9 scale], General Population, 25-Country Global Total

Trusters Seek Traditional & Distrusters Go Online

ONLINE MULTIPLE SOURCES

TRADITIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA CORPORATE

Food & Beverage Industry Trusters

Food & Beverage Industry Distrusters

GENERAL PUBLIC

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Page 8: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Q119-126. Below is a list of people. In general, when forming an opinion of a company, if you heard information about a company from each person, how credible would the information be--extremely credible, very credible, somewhat credible, or not credible at all? Total Credible (3-4), [Trusters=Top 2 Box (8-9), Swing =5, Distrusters=Bottom 2 Box (1-2) on a 1-9 scale], General Population, 25-Country Global Total

Who Are Most Credible Spokespeople?

76%

46%

Academic or Expert

55%

35%

NGO Representative

58%

38%

Regular Employee

42%

17%

Government Officialor Regulator

- 25 Gap

58%

22%

CEO

- 36 Gap

62%

30%

Financial or IndustryAnalyst

- 32 Gap

#1

#4 #5

#7 #5

#8

#2

76%

46%

Technical Expert inthe Company

Industry Trusters most

trusted spokesperson

#1 #2

#4 #5

#6 #8 #7

- 30 Gap

- 30 Gap

- 20 Gap - 20 Gap 68%

51%

Person Like Yourself

Industry Distrusters

most trusted spokesperson

#3 #1

- 17 Gap

GENERAL PUBLIC

Industry Trusters most

trusted spokesperson

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Food & Beverage Industry TRUSTERS

Food & Beverage Industry DISTRUSTERS

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What’s the View of Government Regulation?

Q130. When it comes to government regulation of business, do you think that your government regulates business too much, not enough or the right amount? [Trusters=Top 2 Box, Swing =5, Distrusters=Bottom 2 Box (1-2) on a 1-9 scale], General Population, 25-Country Global Total

20%

28%

44%

20%

11%

58%

Too Much Right Amount Not Enough

Food & Beverage Industry Trusters Food & Beverage Industry Distrusters

GENERAL PUBLIC

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Page 10: The State of Consumer Trust in the Food & Beverage Industry: Winning the Swing Vote

Maintain Current Trust and Build Future Trust SOCIETAL

OPERATIONAL

Q16-26. [Food & Beverage TRACKING] Please indicate how much you trust businesses in each of the following industries to do what is right. Again, please use the same 9-point scale where one means that you “do not trust them at all” and nine means that you “trust them a great deal”. (Top 4 Box, Trust) General Population in 25 country global total; Q70-85./Q86-101. Please think about businesses Food & Beverage industry. How important is each of the following actions to building your TRUST in businesses in the Food & Beverage industry? Please use a nine-point scale where one means that action is “not at all important to building your trust” and nine means it is “extremely important to building your trust” in a company. (Top 2 Box, Very/ Extremely Important) General Population in 25 country global total * ‘Current Trust’ results based on regression analysis of general population in 25 country global total

63% Trust Food & Beverage 2) Listens to customer needs and feedback

3) Treats employees well

3) Places customers ahead of profits

1) High quality products or services

5) Has ethical business practices

6) Takes actions to address issue or crisis

8) Works to protect/improve environment

7) Has transparent and open business

9) Communicates frequently and honestly

10) Addresses society’s needs

11) Innovator of new products

11) Positively impacts the local community

13) Ranks on a global list

13) Highly regarded, top leadership

15) Partners with third parties

16) Delivers consistent financial returns

CURRENT TRUST DRIVEN BY OPERATIONAL ATTRIBUTES

SOCIETAL ATTRIBUTES MORE IMPORTANT TO

BUILDING FUTURE TRUST

Attributes that correlate with current trust

Most important attributes that build future trust

1) Innovator of new products

2) Ranks on a global list

2) Delivers consistent financial returns

4) Highly regarded, top leadership

5) Treat employees well

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