How to Build Trust in a Post-Truth World

Receiving trust from the public is something that organizations can struggle with, especially in today’s world. Charlie Arnot, CEO of the Center for Food Integrity, spoke on how companies can build trust in a post-truth world at the 128th Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Annual Educational Conference.

The Center for Food Integrity is a collection of organizations focused on building trust in the consumer food system. They help project partners with specific issues or challenges they may be facing.

“Whether it’s Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Chick-Fil-A, Starbucks or smaller organizations, we work with them across the food system,” Arnot said. “The common denominator is they’re all focused on building trust.”

Arnot said that today, facts are no longer working to build trust with consumers. Making connections with people is what organizations need to focus on in order to build trust.

“I worked in the food system, and I was always very science based, talking about facts, talking about data, and came to the conclusion that it just was not as effective as I hoped it would be,” he said.

But how did we get to a place where trust is in question and scientific evidence is no longer as persuasive?

“The idea that people are using misinformation or disinformation to promote a political agenda is not new, but there are some important changes that impact the power of misinformation and disinformation in today’s society,” Arnot said.

Misinformation and disinformation have always been around, but Arnot said the big change that is causing mistrust from the public is the technology being used to communicate.

“That change in communication technology drives information dissemination and consumption, and those who are most accomplished in using that technology or controlling the technology have greater influence,” Arnot said.

With information being so widely available now, it has changed the way people think about things, he said.
Another challenge that is faced today with technology is the diversity of people and communities that interact with media.

“We’ve made that transition from trying to connect with the middle of the bell curve now to this infinite number of micro-cultures,” Arnot said. “Each of them have values and communication systems that are ingrained in that micro-culture that make it increasingly difficult for us to have meaningful impact across the population.”

Arnot pointed out that almost 80% of social media users said that would purchase a product based on an influencer recommendation. 

“It’s just a fascinating time to be in the food system, particularly when you’re thinking about communicating about things that are so crucial for people like food safety and public health,” Arnot said.

Though trust may be more difficult to get nowadays, Arnot emphasized that it is still very important for an organization.

“We need to understand that trust is every organization’s most valuable intangible asset,” he said. “If the public doesn’t trust you, they’re not going to give you permission to regulate, and you have to have that social permission to regulate.”

Arnot identified three common attributes of trust. First is the role of influential others, the second is competency, technical data, science and facts, and the third element is confidence and the perception of shared values and ethics.

Sharing and connecting on values were said to be three to five times more important than data in building trust.

Arnot also identified three steps to building trust with consumers, which are to listen, ask and share.
An important aspect of the first step, listening, is to listen without judgement and with the intent to understand, rather than to reply.

“When someone has a question about food safety or a particular food, what’s the underlying value that’s driving? Are they concerned about their health and wellbeing? Are they concerned about their children? Are they concerned about somebody who’s providing the food?” Arnot said.

Arnot offered some examples on how to respond to those concerned about food safety.

“We can certainly understand their concerns, and we acknowledge, I can understand why there’s confusion or interest about X. ‘I appreciate your concern. I can tell you’re passionate about food safety,’” he said. “By all kinds of ways, we can acknowledge and validate them as a person without validating that misinformation.”

After making a connection with someone and showing why you care, Arnot said the next step is to introduce the proof that points to data, such as statistics, quotes and analogies. He emphasized that this is the last thing you should do, not the first thing.

“The key message that you want to communicate here is that you’re committed to having safe food for everyone. That’s what you’ve dedicated your life to, that’s what you are committed to, so that’s the core message that you want to be able to get across,” he said.

Arnot concluded with stressing that the most important thing in building trust is that people know you as a person and can connect on that level.

“Who you are as a person is more important than what you know. Your ability to connect with people as a mom, as a brother, as a son, as a father, as a little league coach, as a cook, is more important than your data and your data alone,” he said. “Remember that as you go forward, because oftentimes we are trained and coached to share just the facts.”