The interconnectedness of ethics and trust

Trust builds loyalty

Recently, I’ve been flip-flopping between two insurance quotes – one super cheap but for a company I don’t know anything about and another a lot more expensive (by nearly 3 times), but I do know and trust that they will pay out if needed.

To be honest, if the pricing was only bit higher then this would be a no brainer for me – I’d pick the company that I trusted. The fact that I’m still undecided when their price is three times higher shows just how important trust can be. And I’m not some weird outlier here - in 2025 it was found that 87% of shoppers will pay more for products from brands they trust

Earning Trust

The things that earn customers trust include honesty, fairness, transparency and accountability as well as delivering what you say you will, offering good, helpful customer service and showing that you value your customers as people. How you look after their data and use AI also plays a big part, particularly around being upfront with what you are doing and only using their data in ways that they’re ok with.

And It’s not just about how you behave directly with your customers that earns trust either. Customers are more likely to trust you if your brand aligns with their values, especially for things like ensuring sustainability and social responsibility.

Ethics builds trust

Now, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of these behaviours are in fact the same things you’d expect to see from someone behaving ethically. Which goes to show that in actual fact behaving ethically is fundamental in building trust with your customer. And building trust with customers is key for companies to thrive.

So, it turns out that ethics is good for business as well as being good for the people you serve - a real win-win😊

So, here’s the challenge

Next time you purchase something try and think about how much your trust in the brand/company played a part in the final decision - you may be surprised.