The Face of Trust for the Multicultural Consumer

by Gonzales Group

While low trust levels are a challenge across the marketplace, multicultural consumers (i.e. African Americans and Hispanics) represent unique challenges and issues when it comes to trust. A close-knit family collectivism is fostered in large part due to the lack of trust in outside institutions.

For the African American consumer, it reflects their existing lack of trust in the U.S. government. The strength of the multicultural family is rooted in close-knit collectivism – a cultural characteristic that puts the needs of the family before others. African Americans turn to family as a refuge from the sting of discrimination socially and in the marketplace. Emotionally, this makes African Americans and Hispanics even more dependent on themselves and each other and less likely to trust outsiders. This is why African Americans consider family and friends their support systems – their “social security”. African Americans have a general distrust, based not on experiences elsewhere as seen among Hispanics but rather because of negative experiences in this country. In many ways, this makes gaining their trust even more difficult. African-Americans tend to agree that big corporations leave much to be desired—product quality is slipping and customer service is a thing of the past. This African American sentiment is in concert with the widespread notion that corporations have become too powerful and is more interested in making a profit than in serving the public interest. High-profile scandals involving the collapse of the financial banking industry have eroded public trust in big business and financial service institutions. However, more African Americans (82% versus 76% non-Hispanic Whites) agree that too much power is concentrated in a few big companies (Pew Research Center 2008).

Trust in government has declined among African American consumers in particular. The current economic climate impacts African Americans more than Non-Hispanic Whites, so they are more likely to agree with the aphorism, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” This African American attitude reflects their greater sense of economic pessimism. In addition, far fewer African Americans (43%) than Non-Hispanic Whites (66%) are satisfied with their current financial situation (Pew Research Center 2008). African Americans have become increasingly cynical about national Government and its responsiveness to its citizens. African Americans are extremely distrustful and, unlike the majority of Non-Hispanic Whites, they don’t believe that Government operates for the benefit of all the people. African Americans in particular feel overlooked when it comes to government policy.