February 1st, 2022, Christien Pheby
More than a decade after the financial crisis, do consumers trust banks and insurance companies? One possible way to assess this is by looking at attitudes towards advertising and marketing. On a global level (across 15 markets), 14% of consumers would put banks and insurance companies in the top three most honest and reliable sectors when it comes to communications. To put this in perspective, that’s substantially more trusted than gambling companies (14%) and a little less trusted than food and drink (21%), and clothing brands (19%).
Of course, there are differences at the continental and national level. In the Asian markets in our study, banks and insurance companies are considered more likely to be trustworthy in their marketing and advertising. In India, (29% - national urban representative sample), Hong Kong (24%), Indonesia (23% - online sample), Singapore (22%), and China (20%), these companies are regarded as far more reliable than they are in other markets.
At the other end of the scale, Europeans are significantly less likely to trust advertising when it comes from the financial sector. French (6%), Spanish (7%), Italian (7%), Danish (9%), and British (10%) consumers are all warier of banks and insurance companies in terms of their communications than the global average, with only the Polish (14%) and Swedish (15%) public bucking the trend. Consumers in the UAE are more favourable towards the sector in this regard (20%), and consumers in North America vary: Americans are less likely to trust banks and insurance companies (10%), while Mexicans are in line with the global average (15%).
Methodology
The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying for each market. All interviews were conducted online in December 2021. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.