The Trust Economy

In a world of increasing distrust, I am comforted by the amount of trust still that remains between humans on a daily level.

Imagine you are on a subway in New York and you hear an Australian accent, you make eye contact and say hi.  You don’t know these people from Adam, but you introduce yourself and they announce they are from Perth, as a fellow Aussie-Abroad you immediate bond with them.  

They share with you that they have just been to a fabulous Italian Restaurant and the suggest you should go.  Based on the fact that you are both Aussies, you ‘trust’ that the restaurant it brilliant despite them not being locals, and have no way of knowing if it is really the best Italian in Manhattan – yet we trust them and make a mental note to  go.

On a daily basis we trust strangers who we connect with on some level, that connection can easily influence the way we spend our money. .

What about Airbnb?   If you read a favourable review on a property from someone that you align with (my husband and two children for example) , we trust that the property is going to meet our needs despite us knowing nothing of the reviewer.. Broaden that to the level of feedback on Tripadvisor which is a serious ‘go to’ for many travellers.

Online shopping, how much did you love those trousers or did those jeans really did make my butt look smaller.  Click.  Add to Cart on the trust of a stranger.  

The list goes on.

Product Reviews, all completed from the comfort of your lounge chair with little or no due diligence of your own undertaken in the purchase of your next home appliance.

Even downloading Apps, how many star ratings does it have from users?  A review from as few as 10 people can be enough to sway our decision to download a $5 App… or not.

It is certainly refreshing that trust can still be developed between complete strangers through a handheld device.