Who do you trust?

Remember the good old days when doctors and professors were treated like gods-on-earth? For better or worse, their days under the sun may be numbered. For the first time ever, “a person like me” trumped both doctors and academic experts as the most credible spokesperson for a company, according to the seventh Edelman’s seventh annual Trust Barometer. And it’s not a low figure. Trust in peers has increased significantly – from 20% in 2003 to 68% today. Wow, that was fast. Yet more evidence that word of mouth goes along way nowadays, both off and online, and that consumers are pretty much fed up with push marketing. Speaking of online, the survey also measured trustworthiness of the internet, TV, and newspapers. While the TV still wins, its popularity as the #1 trustworthy media source has fallen from 39% (three years ago) to 29% today, while the internet is up from 10% to 19%. Will 2006 be the year that the internet beats TV and newspapers to become the #1 trusted media source? Stay tuned, or rather, stick online to see where this year takes us…