Very Few Americans Find Statements by Financial Institutions Completely Believable

Majorities find statements by accounting firms, banks and investment firms somewhat believable

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May 18, 2010, 05:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Through the recent financial crisis, the various institutions that make up the financial world have all been hit in one way or another for not being there for their customers. It's no surprise then that very few Americans (between 2% and 5%) say they find statements completely believable if made by a spokesperson for one of these types of companies.

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Majorities of Americans find statements by spokespersons from accounting firms (62%), banks (57%), and investment firms (52%) somewhat believable.

These are some of the findings of a new Harris Poll® survey of 2,755 U.S. adults, surveyed online between April 12 and 19, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

On the other hand, almost two-thirds of Americans (64%) say they find statements made by a spokesperson from a credit card company not at all believable. Majorities say the same about statements made by spokespersons for both government agencies that regulate financial institutions (53%) and mortgage companies (51%). Health insurance companies divide people, as just under half (49%) say they would find a statement by one of their spokespeople somewhat believable and 49% would find it not at all believable.

Generational Differences

Echo Boomers, those aged 18-33, are across the board more likely to find statements made by these companies more believable than older generations. Three-quarters of Echo Boomers (74%) find statements made by accounting firms to be believable (completely or somewhat) compared to 63% of Gen Xers (those aged 34-45). Almost two-thirds of the youngest generation (65%) says they find statements by the government agencies that regulate financial institutions to be believable. Compare this with 43% of Gen Xers, 41% of Baby Boomers (those aged 46-64) and 36% of Matures (those aged 65 and older) who say the same.

Partisan Differences

Republicans and Democrats have some differences over how believable they find statements by those in the financial world. Seven in ten Democrats (70%) and two-thirds of Independents (66%) say they do not find any statement by credit card companies to be believable compared to 56% of Republicans who say the same. Two-thirds of Republicans (65%) say they do not find statements made by government agencies that regulate financial institutions to be believable compared to 40% of Democrats who say this.

So What?

The issue here is one of trust. It takes a long time for any industry to build up the levels of trust that help them weather crises when they occur. And since this crisis is one that negatively impacts people's wallets, trust will erode even more quickly and take much longer to rebuild. That is what these financial companies have to undertake right now.

TABLE 1 STATEMENTS MADE BY FINANCIAL COMPANIES "Generally speaking, how believable do you normally find statements made by someone who works for one of these companies?" Base: All adults
	Believable (NET)	Completely Believable	Somewhat Believable	Not at all Believable
	%	%	%	%
Accounting firms	67	5	62	33
Banks	62	4	57	38
Investment firms	55	2	52	45
Health insurance companies	51	2	49	49
Mortgage companies	49	2	47	51
Government agencies that regulate financial institutions	47	4	43	53
Credit card companies	36	2	34	64
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 2 STATEMENTS MADE BY FINANCIAL COMPANIES – NOT BELIEVABLE "Generally speaking, how believable do you normally find statements made by someone who works for one of these companies?" Summary of those who say "Not at all believable" Base: All adults
	Total	Generation				Party ID
	Total	Echo Boomers (18-33)	Gen. X (34-45)	Baby Boomers (46-64)	Matures (65+)	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Credit card companies	64	56	68	69	64	56	70	66
Government agencies that regulate financial institutions	53	35	57	59	64	65	40	58
Mortgage companies	51	39	53	57	58	42	57	52
Health insurance companies	49	41	52	54	48	36	56	53
Investment firms	45	36	49	50	48	38	50	45
Banks	38	28	40	45	40	30	44	39
Accounting firms	33	26	37	36	33	26	38	31
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 3 STATEMENTS MADE BY FINANCIAL COMPANIES – BELIEVABLE "Generally speaking, how believable do you normally find statements made by someone who works for one of these companies?" Summary of those who say "Completely believable" or "Somewhat believable" Base: All adults
	Total	Generation				Party ID
	Total	Echo Boomers (18-33)	Gen. X (34-45)	Baby Boomers (46-64)	Matures (65+)	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Accounting firms	67	74	63	64	67	74	62	69
Banks	62	72	60	55	60	70	56	61
Investment firms	55	64	51	50	52	62	50	55
Health insurance companies	51	59	48	46	52	64	44	47
Mortgage companies	49	61	47	43	42	58	43	48
Government agencies that regulate financial institutions	47	65	43	41	36	35	60	42
Credit card companies	36	44	32	31	36	44	30	34
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between April 12 and 19, 2010 among 2,755 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Where appropriate, these data were also weighted to reflect the composition of the adult online population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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*The Harris Poll® #66, May 18, 2010*
By Regina A. Corso, Director, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.