Vodafone Business and LSE Report Highlights Trust Gap Between Businesses and Customers

Vodafone Business and LSE Report Highlights Trust Gap Between Businesses and Customers

(IN BRIEF) A joint study by Vodafone Business and the London School of Economics has uncovered a significant “Trust Gap” between businesses and their customers, averaging 11 percentage points across global markets. This gap highlights businesses’ underestimation of the importance of shared values, humanity, and consistency in earning customer trust. The report suggests that businesses using AI with a human-centric approach could boost trust scores by up to 16%, offering a competitive edge. Industry-specific insights reveal healthcare faces the widest trust gap, emphasizing varied challenges across sectors. Businesses aligned with customer values and leveraging technology effectively are identified as “Fit for the Future,” demonstrating higher trust and commercial success.

For further details, visit Vodafone Business – The Trust Gap.

(PRESS RELEASE) BERKSHIRE, 4-Jul-2024— /EuropaWire/ — A new study from Vodafone Business and the London School of Economics reveals a significant “Trust Gap” between businesses and their customers, averaging 11 percentage points. This gap, identified across 10 global markets through surveys of over 2,300 businesses and 5,000 customers, underscores a critical disparity in perceived trust. The research emphasizes that businesses often underestimate the importance of shared values, humanity, and consistency in building customer trust, which could be addressed through a “human-first” approach to deploying technologies like AI. According to the findings, businesses leveraging AI with a human touch could potentially increase customer trust scores by up to 16%, offering a competitive advantage in today’s market.

Amanda Jobbins, Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone Business, highlights the pivotal role of trust in business performance, especially in navigating new technologies like AI. The report indicates that while 59% of customers believe AI-savvy businesses can make accurate predictions, and 53% trust AI for day-to-day tasks, building enduring trust requires a commitment to ethical deployment and customer benefit.

Matthew Syed, Journalist and Author, underscores the broader implications of trust-building efforts, noting that businesses benefit profoundly by integrating trust into their operational ethos, particularly when adopting new technologies. The report also examines industry-specific trust gaps, revealing healthcare’s wider gap compared to sectors like retail and technology, underscoring the varied challenges businesses face in different markets.

For more insights from the report and how businesses can bridge the Trust Gap, visit Vodafone Business – The Trust Gap.

Notes to editor

Methodology

Quantitative research was conducted by B2B International in collaboration with the London School of Economics, commissioned by Vodafone Business. The study surveyed 2359 businesses and 5289 individual customers across 10 markets and 11 key sectors of the economy.

To create Trust Scores for businesses and industries, the study asked research participants to give organisations a rating on a 1 – 5 scale, according to how much they agreed or disagreed with four statements within each of the three pillars within a definition of Trust. Businesses were asked to give themselves a score on these measures, according to how they thought customers would rank them.

Please visit the methodology section of the report for more information.

About Fit for the Future

In 2020, Vodafone Business set out to discover which businesses are prepared for the future, what they’re doing differently to other businesses, how they approach different challenges and how they fared during the pandemic. We conducted qualitative and quantitative research across 10 markets globally in 2019 and 2020. We found there were six characteristics that correlated most clearly with businesses – we called these businesses ‘Fit for the Future’ (FFTF).

FFTF businesses are more confident in their ability to use technology, quicker to respond to upcoming trends and faster to market than their competitors, and this includes monitoring their carbon footprint. We continue to track FFTF businesses in our studies to see how they fare to potential issues or scenarios compared to those who may not be as prepared.

In the 2021 report, we partnered with the London School of Economics to understand whether being Fit for the Future affected company performance. The report revealed a close correlation between being Fit for the Future and commercial performance. Even after controlling for factors such as company size, location and sector, financial performance relative to competitors is greater when firms score higher in terms of their Fit for Future score. Similarly, being Fit for the Future is associated with higher ESG scores.

About Vodafone

Vodafone is a leading European and African telecoms company. We provide mobile and fixed services to over 330 million customers in 15 countries (excludes Italy which is held as a discontinued operation under Vodafone Group), partner with mobile networks in 45 more and have one of the world’s largest IoT platforms. In Africa, our financial technology businesses serve almost 79 million customers across seven countries – managing more transactions than any other provider.

Our purpose is to connect for a better future by using technology to improve lives, businesses and help progress inclusive sustainable societies. We are committed to reducing our environmental impact to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com, follow us on X at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.

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SOURCE: Vodafone Group