New report reveals Filipino consumers are redefining who and how to trust
Filipinos are beginning to be critical of the choices they make and the brands and entities that they put their trust in. This is the key revelation of a new study shared by the Havas Ortega Group.
The Pinoy Prosumer Report on The Future of Trust reveals that while digital media and online social networks were earlier seen as crucial trust-building catalysts upon their inception, fake news, paid trolls, unethical and gameable algorithms, and bad e-commerce experiences are making Filipinos extra selective about what they see, hear, discover, and trust not just in the digital realm but also in real life. “These trends in trust are in line with global prosumer attitudes and behavior – and these trends are a far cry from the optimism the digital world engendered a decade ago. We used to believe that the digital medium would be a bridge to others and a bridge to reliable, timely, and accurate information. Today, we no longer are sure and are questioning the trust that we give to these digital media channels.
This trend is also effusing into the non-digital media world: We are beginning to see that Filipino Prosumers are beginning to be less trusting of the world around them, in general. This is a problem because trust is the glue that holds societies and communities together. Trust is also the medium that facilitates all interactions and relationships, personal and commercial; with this erosion in trust, we could be seeing a fundamental shift in the way we relate with one another not just digitally but also in real life,” says Phil Tiongson, Havas Ortega’s Head of Data & Analytics. Over 90% of Filipino Prosumers still believe trust to be the cornerstone of society and an indicator of a country’s quality of life. It shows in the behavior as well: 63% tend to trust others until there is proven reason not to. There are also institutions that Filipinos would trust more over others: the science community over the religious community when it comes to telling the truth; lawyers over NGOs and activists in protecting individual rights and liberties; the courts and legal system over fellow citizens in moral and legal issues; and 65% trust journalistic sources and experts over anonymous, non-by-lined articles or opinion pieces in blogs and consumer-generated websites.