Corporate reputations across most sectors have deteriorated in recent years, but the tech industry has proved almost immune to reputational damage. Recently, however, major concerns around data privacy, corporate tax and the use of online networks by terrorists have caused UK public and media sentiment to shift. These issues have also put the tech sector on a collision course with governments and regulators, both in the UK and across Europe.
Drawing on new opinion research from Brunswick Insight, this presentation examines why trust in tech companies is falling in the UK, and provides a basis for designing strategies to rebuild it. We also look at the practical implications of a damaged reputation as the sector faces up to new challenges and a more hostile environment.
For more information please contact:
Amanda Duckworth: www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/amanda-duckworth/
Chris Blundell: www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/chris-blundell/
Phil Riggins: www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/phil-riggins/
10. And here we have combined the two – understanding and trust – and there is a clear
correlation.
Lower understanding of the way the business operates = lower levels of trust in that business to
behave responsibly
To understand the chart, for example, 55% of those who know a lot or a fair amount about
PayPal strongly trust it, compared to just 27% of those who know a little/nothing at all.
Therefore better understanding delivers a 2x uplift in trust.
People are three times more likely to strongly trust facebook or Uber to behave responsibly if
they understand how they go about their business.
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20. Privacy generates very high levels of concern overall.
Concerns broadly reflect how much information is collected, what it is used for without their
knowledge, and what risks there are when companies lose people’s data.
Lack of data privacy was defined in the question as follows: “Lack of data privacy: Companies
gathering and sharing personal information about me without my knowledge and
permission."
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31. The survey focuses on media attentives – those most likely to see, hear or read quality news
sources on a daily basis.
Notes on age profile: It's a broad age range across UK adults, broadly in line with the
population profile overall though with slightly fewer younger people as they consume
less news, esp from these sources. Among media attentive it splits out roughly as
follows:
18‐34: 20%
35‐44: 20%
45‐55: 20%
55‐64: 20%
65+: 20%
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