Thursday, March 08, 2007

Do You Trust?

I recently downloaded the Edelman Trust Barometer 2007 from their Web site. If you haven't had a chance to do so, please take a minute. This is a research report they sponsor. I'm interested to know facts around how the public perceives messages from varied sources. You can find it at www.edelman.com. As the Puget Sound chapter ethcis officer this year, I find this to be an interesting overlay to the discussion about ethics and PR. What's your opinon about the concept of public trust in the marketplace? And, how does the current state of the PR practice nuture or hurt this public trust?

Enjoy, Erika

1 comment:

Brian Seitz said...

I think one reason ethics is bubbling back up to the top is the visibility unethical activities can now get, in a short period of time, thanks to online communication. There have been several high profile examples over the past couple years, from fake grassroots support [called astro turfing] to strong arm tactics when dealing with customers and the media. Now more and more of your customers ARE the media with influential blogs and sharing their experiences [mostly bad ones] with anyone that will listen in Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live Spaces and so on. Being transparent and ethical as PR practioners is just as important as it has ever been.