New from the reveals that transparency and effective communication are key to building and maintaining trust. Dr. Kate Sansome, from the Adelaide Business School, found that consumers expect brands to be open about issues that directly affect them.
“As sociopolitical issues become topical in the news and social media, brands are expected to be transparent about them; for example, as consumers face cost-of-living pressures, they will expect brands to be transparent about this issue,” says Dr Sansome, who conducted the study with the Professor Jodie Conduit and Dr Dean Wilkie from the Adelaide Business School. “Our research shows that it’s not just about brands sharing extensive information, but about being open, clear, timely, and providing well-explained, evidence-based information. Open dialogue and answering consumers’ questions are important for transparency, even on sensitive or negative issues, particularly for brands in industries with a negative reputation.
” Dr Sansome says that being transparent means communicating in a simple and easy-to-understand manner, being upfront before external pressure, and backing up claims with statistics, facts, and visual evidence. The study suggests that brands that use tools like infographics or storytelling to explain their decisions give consumers a better understanding of their intentions and reasons behind their actions. “Consumers are becoming more uncertain of brand communication due to misinformation, deep fakes, m.