An Era of Eroding Trust: National Study Reveals Occupations Americans Find the Most – or Least – Trustworthy
September 18 2018 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
Study Commissioned by Purplebricks Delves into
the Trustworthiness Of Bankers, Journalists, Politicians and Real
Estate Agents, Among Others
The delicate balance of “trust” has reached a fever pitch in
2018 – especially when it comes to Americans’ faith in those in a
wide range of occupations, such as journalists, politicians,
teachers, doctors, bankers, realtors, and car and insurance
salespeople. Purplebricks Group plc (AIM:PURP) (“Purplebricks”),
the pioneering next-generation real estate agency, recently
commissioned a national study* to uncover which professions are
deemed the most and least trustworthy today. The results point to a
growing need among consumers for transparent and honest
interactions with people who deliver their news, make their laws,
teach their children and sell their homes, but don’t feel as though
those in key positions are always delivering on that
expectation.
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National study commissioned by
Purplebricks delves into the trustworthiness of bankers,
journalists, politicians and real estate agents, among other
occupations. For more information, visit
www.purplebricks.com.(Graphic: Business Wire)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, teachers and doctors lead the pack with
91 and 90 percent of Americans believing the respective professions
to be the most trustworthy. Conversely, professions ranked at the
bottom of Americans’ coffers of trust are bankers (14 percent),
journalists (11 percent), real estate agents (11 percent), car
salespeople (six percent) and politicians (four percent).
Interestingly, two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans feel that
bankers – in spite of recession activity within the past decade –
are more trustworthy than journalists (54 percent) or lawyers (53
percent).
“Transparency is an increasingly valued attribute in today’s
culture in light of public mistrust across a number of
professions,” said Jonathan Adler, Chief Marketing Officer,
Purplebricks. “The fact that the public places more trust in
financial institutions than their local real estate experts is
quite telling, and it’s a paradigm that we at Purplebricks strive
to change. By providing a clearer way of doing business, even going
so far as allowing buyers and sellers to communicate directly to
aid in transparency with local real estate experts available every
step of the way, we’re aiming to usher in a new era of openness and
honesty in the industry.”
The study also uncovered how men and women as well as various
age groups and those living in different geographic regions trust
differently. Additional findings include:
- National (In)security. Almost
half (43 percent) of Americans feel politicians are not trustworthy
at all, while they are nearly twice as likely to distrust a
politician (79 percent) than a journalist (46 percent).
- With Age, Comes Distrust.
Millennials are more trusting than older generations across a
variety of professions. When compared to Boomers, Millennials are
more trusting of journalists (59 percent vs. 50 percent), insurance
salespeople (58 percent vs. 44 percent) and politicians (29 percent
vs. 13 percent).
- Gender Reveal. There’s a gender
gap when it comes to trusting a variety of professions, as more men
than women describe doctors (40 percent vs. 33 percent), bankers
(17 percent vs. 12 percent) and journalists (13 percent vs. 8
percent) as completely trustworthy.
- Sales Not Created Equal.
Two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans say they cannot trust car
salespeople, while around half (49 percent) say the same about
those who sell insurance.
- Location, location, location.
Americans from the West are more than twice as likely as those from
the Midwest to find real estate agents not trustworthy at all.
Moreover, Americans from the South are 83 percent more likely than
those from the West to say journalists simply cannot be trusted at
all.
With Purplebricks, home sellers in the U.S. only need to pay a
low, fixed fee to list their home and, upon closing, pay the
typical buyer’s agent commission, which is standard in U.S.
residential real estate transactions. Purplebricks agents provide a
full-service offering that includes pricing and staging advice,
professional photography, signage and marketing, an immersive 3D
virtual tour and dedicated support through closing.
Local homebuyers can use Purplebricks’ website and mobile app to
view all available property listings on the market, instantly book
multiple home tours with Purplebricks agents, safely and seamlessly
communicate with sellers, and negotiate offers in real-time. The
flexibility afforded by Purplebricks’ online platform provides
buyers with greater speed and control over the transaction 24/7. As
an added benefit, buyers who select Purplebricks to serve as their
agent receive a $1,000 rebate on closing.
For more information about the Purplebricks’ platform, savings
and services, please visit www.purplebricks.com.
*Online survey conducted by Kelton Global to 1,028 nationally
representative Americans ages 18 and over, with a margin of error
of +/- 3.1 percent.
About Purplebricks
Purplebricks, with offices in three major real estate markets
including the United Kingdom, Australia and now the United States,
is the pioneering next-generation real estate brokerage, combining
highly experienced and professional Local Real Estate Experts with
an innovative and intuitive technology platform to make the entire
process of selling and buying homes much more convenient,
transparent and cost effective. Purplebricks is transforming the
way people perceive real estate agencies, while in the process
helping sellers save thousands of dollars, affording buyers greater
transactional flexibility and control and offering agents the
chance to build and grow their own profitable businesses.
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