How to Gain Consumer Trust

A recent IBM study of 2,000 Canadians reveals that retailers and manufacturers are gaining credibility with consumers. The IBM Consumer Trust Ranking measured the biggest influencers of consumer purchases. While most decisions are still influenced by family and friends (48% in 2011), retailers and manufacturers scored 25%—an increase of 13% over 2010.  These gains came at the expense of friends and family, customer reviews, and product expert recommendations

Businesses have an opportunity to take advantage of this consumer behaviour. To build trust and win over customers, they must not only understand the wants and needs of that customer, but also how customers engage with their products and how that influences their buying decisions.

IBM suggests three ways to accomplish this:

Listen and learn:

Use analytics on all digital media and learn from consumer generated content

Anticipate and adapt:

Identify your top influencers and use them to anticipate future products and services

Execute and excel:

Know your consumers media preferences, who influences their shopping cycles and identify and evolve your most ridged process to demonstrate loyalty to them

To read the full report, view Winning Over the Empowered Customer.