So, Whom Do We Trust?

Toronto, ON -- A Reader's Digest Poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid and released today shows that pharmacists (91%), doctors (85%) and airline pilots (81%) are given top trustmarks by Canadians. This is in comparison to national politicians (9%), car salespeople (10%) and local politicians (14%) who are at the bottom of the list. Canada's captains of industry, battered by scandals during 2002 which have spilled over to tarnish their reputation as a group, don't fare much better: with only 21 percent who trust CEOs they're tied with trade unions and our fourth from the bottom of the list in the notch above local politicians.

When examining which industries Canadians trust the most it is the medical research industry (62%), the tourism industry (57%) and national retail/department stores (56%) that top the list. At the bottom is the tobacco industry (8%), the oil industry (17%) and the advertising industry (17%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Reader's Digest Magazine (Canada) Ltd. between September 25th and November 7th, 2002. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,007 adult Canadians who are members of the Ipsos-Reid Canadian Household Panel. The Ipsos-Reid Canadian Household Panel consists of 70,000 pre-screened households consisting of over 140,000 individuals that are a representative sample of the Canadian population. The survey was self-completed and conducted via mail. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

The following is a chart that lists professions and organizations in Canada in terms of their ranking "trustmarks":

To view the charts please open the attached PDF file of the release.

When asked to identify the level of importance of various attributes in their personal assessment of professions and associations, honest (68%) is viewed by the largest number of Canadians as extremely important. Following on list as extremely important are integrity (54%), reliability (51%), commitment to promises (49%), professionalism (33%), reputation (21%), personal experience (16%) and the education required (13%).

Asked to identify which one attribute is the most important, the list is almost in the same rank order with honesty (51%) topping the list, followed by integrity (19%), reliability (8%), professionalism (5%), commitment to promises (5%), reputation (2%), personal experience (1%), and education required (1%).

Canadians were also asked to evaluate various industries and sectors as to their trustworthiness:

To view the charts please open the attached PDF file of the release.

Respondents were also asked to rate the level of importance of a number of attributes when assessing the reputation of a company. Quality of product (56%) leads the list of attributes rated as extremely important, followed by customer service (52%), responsible business practices (32%), employee practices (23%), personal experience (22%), innovation (7%) and advertising (4%).

Of these attributes, quality of product (39%) is ranked as the most important, followed by customer service (33%), responsible business practices (11%), personal experience (4%), employee practices (1%) while advertising and innovation receive less than one percent.

To view the complete release and charts, please open the attached PDF file.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900