Trust matters

The single most important characteristic of purposeful companies is being trustworthy and specifically demonstrating shared values. This is further amplified in times of crisis, as people generally become more critical and raise expectations on companies and institutions.

Being highly trustworthy and having clear values shared by their customers are also what marks the companies that are the most purposeful, the most preferred and the most rapidly increasing in purpose index in this year’s study.

At the same time, mistrust in institutions and concerns about e.g. fake news and unreliable information are at all time highs globally. The study also reveals that ‘Fighting corruption’ is a top unmet prioritized challenge for companies, indicating mistrust against business as well. To answer up, companies will need to be open, honest and transparent.

Smart companies invest in building trusting relationships with customers and the public, because they understand how trust provides leverage for any initiative and amplifies its effect. In the coming years of anticipated economic turmoil, this will be especially valuable, as many companies will need to change, reposition and test new ventures when trying to remain relevant.

The following companies scored high on associations related to caring for resources in Lynxeye Purpose Index™ Global 2023.

If customers can relate to how your company lives its values, you will gain their trust and be purposeful to them. There are no “typical purpose values” to pinpoint. This is why, when we plot highly purposeful companies and brands on the Human Motivations Tool™ by Lynxeye, they are spread out all over the chart. People are looking for companies to provide positive change according to their own world view, and that will differ depending on their values.

The scatter graph on this page shows highly purposeful brands among different values-based groups in the United States.