The Trust Imperative
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4302-03.pdf
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Author(s)
URBAN, GLEN L.
Date Issued
May 2, 2003
Series/Report no.
MIT Sloan School of Management Working Paper;4302-03
Abstract
Nearly 70% of Americans agree with the statement, "I don't know whom to trust
anymore," according to a February 2002 Golin/Harris Poll1. Although trust in society
and corporations seems to be at an all time low, now is a good time for businesses to
embark on a trust-based marketing strategy. Increasing customer power will drive a
new paradigm for marketing, a paradigm based on advocating for the customer by
providing open, honest information and advice. At the same time, this customer power
is reducing the effectiveness of old-style push-based marketing. Thus, the shift to
trust-based marketing may be more of a mandatory imperative than an optional
opportunity. Trust-based marketing involves much more than dropping millions of
dollars on Super Bowl ads that say "trust us." Instead, it is an approach to marketing
that shifts and deepens the relationship between a company and its customers. Rather
than bombarding passive customers, a trust-based strategy creates a positive
relationship with an increasingly loyal customer base. Trust-based marketing contrasts
with traditional push-based marketing in the assumptions that it makes about customer.
The old paradigm of push-based marketing assumed that customers did not know
what was good for them. Under this old assumption, companies broadcast their hype
to push products and services onto an ignorant customer base. The goal was to "push"
products onto customers. This contrast between push-based marketing and
trust-based marketing parallels McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y. (see Sidebar on
Theory P vs. Theory T -- Theory X vs. Theory Y). The key is in changing the
assumptions that companies hold about their customers.
Subjects
Trust-based Marketing
Persistent DSpace Link
