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Drivers of Trust and Reputation Are A-Changin’ - Just Ask Toyota

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Thanks to the rapid collaboration of disparate forces, including the emergence of social media, widespread corporate malfeasance, economic turbulence and media fragmentation, the importance of intangibles like reputation and trust to organizations' bottom lines has increased exponentially. Likewise, the drivers of these intangibles have changed markedly, especially as external stakeholders find more and more ways to influence corporate outcomes.

The results of the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer, released earlier this week, underscore this reality, revealing a significant shift in the factors that global opinion leaders believe are most important to driving corporate reputation and trust. One big difference between 2006 and 2010: the role financial returns play in determining reputation, which fell to the bottom of the list this year after ranking 3rd in 2006 (the questions were worded differently-see image below). 

What is important to corporate reputation, according to the report: transparent and honest practices (83%), trustworthiness (83%), and high-quality products and services (79%).

Now, consider these reputation drivers from Toyota's point of view. A perennial customer favorite, the Japanese automaker just announced its decision to suspend sales of several popular car models following a recall of more than 2 million vehicles due to problems with their acceleration mechanisms. According to reports, the eight suspended models account for 57% of Toyota's U.S. sales, and news of the suspension prompted a 7.7% decline in the company's share value.

Suffice it to say that dealers and investors are not too happy at the moment. But, from a reputation management standpoint, Toyota's decision was spot on. After all, the company's brand is built on durability, reliability and quality - three values that cannot be sustained if their vehicles' safety is in question. To continue selling potentially affected models for the sake of short-term stock movement would be to put shareholders before customers, which, judging from Toyota's actions, is not something they are willing to do.

"Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company," said Group Vice President and Toyota Division General Manager Bob Carter in a TIME article. "This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized. We're making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible."

With Toyota's current crisis and the Edelman Trust Barometer findings as a backdrop, communications executives should consider these reputation management take-aways:

• Communicate early and often: Frequent communications was the 4th most important driver of corporate reputation, according to Edelman's Trust Barometer. For Toyota - or any company in the midst of a crisis - the best thing to do is stay out in front of the news by constantly giving updates and responding to media inquiries.
• Communicate via multiple channels: Trust Barometer findings showed that multiple information sources enhance a company's credibility. In this vein, Toyota is communicating updates via all its online assets, including Twitter, Facebook and its online newsroom.
• Listen and respond: Reputation is most at risk during a crisis situation, so it is especially critical to not only monitor conversations in real-time, but to also respond to stakeholders' concerns, even if it is only to direct them to the most up-to-date information. Doing so most effectively requires identifying the most important conversations, managing volume, and synchronizing messages and responses across the organization.