How to Build, Sustain-and Destroy-Trust

"In 2024, Psychology Today published our perspective about what we called "the AI paradox": As expanded use of AI makes technical competence more commoditized, the value of personal trust would be elevated. (2024). New data show that American companies underperform European companies on trustworthiness. Perceived trustworthiness is reflected in employee reviews of the work environment, leadership turnover, and product innovation."

"Marcos Aguiar and his colleagues at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have designed an outside-in measure of a company's perceived trustworthiness. As described in their May 2022 report, "What AI Reveals About Trust in the World's Largest Companies." the BCG Trust Index uses AI and natural language processing (NLP) to analyze massive multi-year online data sets. Their instruments scrape from the internet and comb through thousands of articles and posts on each company using a research-validated list of more than 200 trust-related keywords."

"Our consulting work primarily focuses on small to mid-sized private companies. We use two prompt requests with at least two different AI systems to help our clients measure perceived institutional trust. Prompt 1: "Client Company: Provide me with a balanced perspective about this company. Review social media comments, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and X. Provide me with a sentiment analysis with percentages. How many Vice Presidents have left this company within the last 12 mo"

As AI use expands and technical competence becomes commoditized, perceived personal and institutional trust rises in importance as a competitive differentiator. Traditional differentiation such as product features or specialist knowledge will have diminishing impact. Perceived trust strongly correlates with total shareholder value. European companies appear over-represented and U.S. companies under-represented among firms judged trustworthy. The BCG Trust Index measures perceived trustworthiness by applying AI and NLP to multi-year online datasets and a validated list of more than 200 trust-related keywords. For private companies, consultants apply multiple AI prompts and systems to analyze social media sentiment, leadership turnover, and employee reviews to estimate perceived institutional trust.

Read at Psychology Today