trust of organizations communicating about agriculture and the environment
TRANSCRIPT
Trust of Organizations Communicating about Agriculture and the Environment
Quisto Settle
Keelee McCartyJoy RumbleTaylor Ruth
Trust
We seek information from those we trust
We trust those who we have relationships with
Trust is essential to good public relations and effective communication
Trust can be the glue that puts the broken plate back together
Trust Today
“Society depends on those organizations or individuals who grow and supply food, and therefore society must find trust in knowing that quality food will be supplied. When this trust is broken, organizations suffer and the public seeks to find trust in others (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2000).”
Sections
• Importance of Issues• Likelihood to Pay Attention to Issues in
News• Awareness of Organizations• Knowledge of Organizations• Trust of Communications by Issue• Trust of Organizations
Race/Ethnicity PercentHispanic 17
White 77
Black or African-American 14
American Indian 3
Asian 6
Other 2
Relationship Status PercentSingle 32.4
Married/Civil Union 51.0
Divorced 12.4
Separated 1.1
Widowed 2.9
Other 0.2
Education PercentLess than HS/GED 1.7
HS/GED 16.0
Some College 23.5
2-Year 13.5
4-Year 29.6
Masters 11.3
Professional 2.9
Doctoral 1.5
Political Beliefs
Series10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
11.5
13
11.1
37.8
10.1
12
4.6
Very ConservativeConservativeSomewhat ConservativeModerateSomewhat LiberalLiberalVery Liberal
Importance MeanFood Safety 4.75
Nutrition 4.66
Agriculture 4.65
Environment 4.56
Animal Welfare 4.49
1 = Unimportant, 5 = Important
Importance MeanFood Safety 4.37
Nutrition 4.15
Environment 4.12
Animal Welfare 3.99
Agriculture 3.91
1 = Very Unlikely, 5 = Very Likely
Summary of Awareness
FDA
USDA
EPAW
WF
PETA
DuPont
Greenpeace
HSUS
Sierra
Monsan
to AFB
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
Extensio
nEW
G CFI
Synge
nta0
20
40
60
80
100
Awareness
Summary of Knowledge
FDA
USDA
EPAPETA
HSUS
WW
F
Greenpeace
Sierra
Monsan
to AFB
DuPont
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
EWG
Extensio
n CFI
Synge
nta0
10
20
30
40
50
Knowledge
The Filters
• Did not respond to the following trust questions if they were unaware or had no knowledge of an organization
Respondents by Organization
Organization Number Organization Number
FDA 444 Sierra Club 192
USDA 404 Monsanto 184
EPA 316 AFB 161
PETA 274 Farmers & Ranchers
122
WWF 252 Extension 99
HSUS 245 EWG 95
Greenpeace 244 CFI 72
DuPont 234 Syngenta 56
Extensio
nHSU
SEW
GW
WF
AFB CFI
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
USDA
EPA
Sierra
Club
Greenpeace
FDA
Synge
ntaPETA
Dupont
Monsan
to1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Trust Communication about Agriculture
1 = Distrust, 5 = Trust
EWG
Extensio
nW
WF CFI
AFBHSU
S
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
Sierra
Club
Greenpeace
EPA USD
AFD
A
Synge
ntaPETA
Dupont
Monsan
to1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Trust Communication about the Environment
1 = Distrust, 5 = Trust
WW
FHSU
SEW
G
Extensio
n
Farm
ers & Ran
chers CFI
Sierra
ClubAFB
Greenpeace
PETA
Synge
ntaEPA
USDA
FDA
Dupont
Monsan
to1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Trust Communication about Animal Welfare
1 = Distrust, 5 = Trust
EWG
Extensio
n
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
AFB FDA
USDA
HSUS
EPA W
WF
Synge
nta
Greenpeace CFI
Sierra
ClubPETA
Dupont
Monsan
to1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Trust Communication about Food Safety
1 = Distrust, 5 = Trust
CFI
Extensio
nEW
G
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
AFB FDA
USDA
Synge
ntaHSU
SW
WF
Greenpeace
Sierra
ClubEPA
PETA
Dupont
Monsan
to1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Trust Communication about Nutrition
1 = Distrust, 5 = Trust
HSUS
WW
FEW
G
Extensio
nAFB
Sierra
Club
Greenpeace CFI
Farm
ers & Ran
chers
EPA USD
APETA
FDA
Dupont
Synge
nta
Monsan
to1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Overall Trust in Organizations
1 = Distrust, 5 = Trust
Correlation between Trust of Orgs and Trust of their CommunicationsOrganization Correlation Organization Correlation
Monsanto .86 Syngenta .67
PETA .77 WWF .63
EPA .74 HSUS .59
Greenpeace .74 US Farmers .55
DuPont .72 Farm Bureau .55
USDA .70 Extension .48
Sierra .69 CFI .45
FDA .69 EWG .37
Correlation between Knowledge and Trust
Negligible to low for trust of the org
Low to moderate for trust of comm
one substantial (Syngenta)
Government Organizations
Government organizations highest in awareness and knowledge, but they weren’t especially high in trust
– Except Extension
Speaking of Extension
Continues streak of best kept secret– This is awful news– Priority for Extension is to expand its audience
There is a clear need to continue to push broaden awareness of Extension
Especially important in times of budget cuts
Lack of Trust
Until trust improves, organizations like Monsanto will have difficulty getting the public to believe their communications
There is a need to work on (re)building relationships with the public
Trends
Results tie in with decades-long trend of eroding trust in government and industry organizations
Trust will not magically come back– Needs to be earned
NGOs
NGOs on the other side of the fence of traditional agriculture tended to be more well-known than groups like American Farm Bureau
– But trust was fairly comparable for those who were aware of the organizations
At the End of the Day
Trust isn’t low, but it also isn’t high– And that’s bad enough
These organizations communicate about issues impacting our food and our environment
At the End of the Day
We know the public is disconnected from Ag
We also know they’re trying to pay attention
But they don’t always pay attention to good sources
– And we need to find our niche in fixing that problem