Free For All Marketing 2016 Trust Survey

The latest research shows consumers place the highest levels of trust in word of mouth and sampling a product or service when it comes to sources of information. According to the recently released Environics Communications CanTrust Index – a study of levels of trust Canadians have in various sources of information – product sampling ranked second at 73%, closely behind word of mouth at 75%. A distant third and fourth place fell to online reviews and editorial content at 51% and 49% respectively. Trust in traditional advertising and online advertising messages scored relatively low at 31% and 24% respectively.

The CanTrust Index noted an increase in trust from product sampling since 2010 when only 34% of Canadians mentioned that sampling would influence their decision to purchase a product or service.

Looking more closely at the numbers, new Canadians and primary household shoppers scored relatively equal on trust for sampling a product or service – at 67% and 74% respectively.  Interestingly, as Canadian consumers age they are more likely to increase their trust of a product or service they have sampled – 75% for adults 50+ versus 73% for the general population.

Across all consumer segments, 68% stated that “enjoyment of a product or service” was considered important and helped to drive trust levels.  New Canadians scored slightly higher at 72%.

Click here to view our key findings from this survey in an infographic or download our press release.