The connected dimensions of trust

When consumers talk about the trust they feel for brands, it’s probable that they aren’t thinking specifically about your brand, but even for the most trusted brands, there are usually opportunities for improvement.

So where does it begin?

That starts with understanding the dimensions and mechanics of trust—how it is built, reinforced and sustained. Through its HX TrustID research, Deloitte Digital identified four core signals that must be integrated by brands in order to earn trust.

These signals are embedded in everything that your brand does—whether intentionally or not. For example, siloed organizational structures can cause disjointed, impersonal experiences for customers as they move from awareness of your company’s products, to purchase, to post- sale service.

52% of consumers feel somewhat or very high trust for the brands they purchased or used in 2021.

HX TrustIDTM

Intent

When combined, humanity and transparency signal a company’s intent.
Humanity

Demonstrating empathy and kindness and treating everyone fairly.
Transparency

Openly sharing all information, motives and choices in straightforward, plain language
Capability

Creating quality products, services and/or experiences
Reliability

Consistently and dependably delivering on promises
Competence

When combined, capability and reliability form a company’s competence.

Venn diagram showing interacting circles of humanity, transparency, capability, and reliability.

Those customers may question your brand's...

Humanity

Transparency

Capability

Reliability

Supply chain and channel partners, product development and merchandising, IT and communications infrastructure, finance, and commerce technology:

They each impact the trust fostered—or fractured—with customers.

When brands fail to understand what customers expect across the four signals, trust is all but impossible to build and sustain. Good intentions that aren’t backed by consistent execution also run the risk of damaging trust and missing opportunities for growth. You can’t make up for a bad product with a good ad—or vice versa.

The key is to communicate all four trust signals across the end-to-end customer experience

That’s where true business value lies. But brands—including many of those most trusted by consumers—often struggle to consistently communicate those signals, as we will explore in the next section.