Trust is the New Currency: How brands earn and lose it

Today, consumers have more choices than ever before. In almost every category, brands compete for attention, often by spending more, speaking louder, and pushing harder. But the brands that truly win are rarely the noisiest. They are the ones people trust. In fact, studies have shown that nearly 8 in 10 consumers say they need to trust a brand before buying from it, while 88 percent say authenticity matters when deciding which brands to support.

Think about the local kirana store that has served families for decades. It may not have a loyalty programme, an app, or customer data, yet people continue to return. The reason is simple. Trust has been built over time through reliability, familiarity, and human connection. The shopkeeper remembers preferences, extends support in difficult times, and delivers consistency without ever calling it a brand strategy. This is where many large companies struggle. They invest heavily in marketing, but often overlook what creates long-term loyalty. Research consistently shows that retaining an existing customer can be far more cost-effective than acquiring a new one, which makes trust not just a brand asset, but a business imperative.

Trust rests on a few simple foundations. First, a brand has to deliver on its promise. If it claims quality, customers should experience quality. If it promises service, that service should be dependable. But competence alone is not enough. Trust deepens when brands are consistent. Customers should know what to expect across every interaction. A reliable experience creates confidence, and confidence creates loyalty.

There is also a third layer that matters more today: character. Consumers want to support brands whose values align with their own. More than 70 percent of consumers globally say they prefer buying from brands whose values reflect their own, showing that trust today extends beyond product performance. Some of the strongest examples of trust-building come from brands that proved themselves when it mattered most. Cadbury is one such example. During the Dairy Milk crisis, the company took corrective action, improved packaging, and communicated openly with consumers. What could have damaged the brand instead strengthened confidence in it.

Amul has built trust in a different but equally powerful way. Its strength comes from staying true to a clear promise for decades: good quality at an accessible price. That consistency has made the brand dependable in the minds of consumers.

Tata offers yet another example. Its credibility has been shaped by years of ethical conduct and responsible business decisions. It is no coincidence that Tata has consistently ranked among India’s most trusted brands. That kind of trust is deeper because it is attached not just to products, but to reputation itself.

The challenge with trust is that it builds slowly but can disappear quickly. Maggi’s crisis made this clear. The issue was not only about product safety. It was about consumer confidence breaking down. Once doubt entered the relationship, rebuilding trust took far longer than resolving the issue.

The same pattern has played out in newer sectors as well. In the case of edtech companies like BYJU’S, concerns around aggressive sales practices and unmet promises created a trust gap that growth alone could not cover. When consumers feel misled, the damage often goes beyond business performance. There is also a subtler way brands lose trust today: inauthenticity. When companies speak about purpose or sustainability but behave differently in practice, consumers notice. Trust weakens the moment people feel a brand is saying one thing and doing another.

The rules of trust have changed. Today, trust is not built only through campaigns or polished messaging. It is built in everyday moments—how a company handles complaints, how openly it communicates, and how it responds to mistakes. This matters because customers who trust a brand are significantly more likely to stay loyal, recommend it, and pay a premium for it. That is one reason brands like Zomato have built strong consumer affinity. Their strength is not only in the product, but in the way they engage.

Credit: Preetika gupta is a PGDMGM student at XLRI Jamshedpur