The Lead

Re Matt's blog post on reputation and trust (nicely done!), I hope you all are designing trust-building activities into your client programs. It's so easy to do. As I told PSB staffers a couple of years ago (and have written about in PRSA venues since then), recent brain research has conclusively demonstrated that "reciprocity predicts trust." Yes, it's as simple as that. Acts of reciprocity (and don't forget that words are actions, too) produce neural firings in the interior regions of the brain (the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate cortex) where trust is formed. There's nothing at all complex about it. Every time you say "thank you," ever time you say "I'm sorry," every time you empathize with someone else and respond to another person's concerns, in each such instance you are demonstrating reciprocity. Keeping your word is a form of reciprocity. So is doing more than is expected of you. And every one of these acts of reciprocity produces another round of neural firings that eventually produce the "activity-dependent synaptic modifications" that kindle trust. And what's true for individuals is also the case with organizations. So, let me say it again: reciprocity predicts trust. Make this the core of your branding programs, and you'll be way ahead of your competitors. Oh, and when your clients ask, "How do you know this?", tell them you got it from recent studies aimed at finding the "neural correlates" of trust. Shakespeare knew the importance of reputation; now you know how reputation is "brought to mind," so to speak.

Great Blog article.
It's nice to see branding make a comeback since for the last while it has been all about price wars. Along with branding companies now have to consider being the fastest, best and most affordable...What a concept!
I think "best" is where your reputation fits in and is always something to keep in mind within all levels of an organization, right down to the people who answer the phones.

Thanks to John for the brainy comments. I like how our minds tick.