An Era of Eroding Trust: National Study Reveals Occupations Americans Find the Most – or Least – Trustworthy

Study Commissioned by Purplebricks Delves into the Trustworthiness Of Bankers, Journalists, Politicians and Real Estate Agents, Among Others

The delicate balance of “trust” has reached a fever pitch in 2018 – especially when it comes to Americans’ faith in those in a wide range of occupations, such as journalists, politicians, teachers, doctors, bankers, realtors, and car and insurance salespeople. Purplebricks Group plc (AIM:PURP) (“Purplebricks”), the pioneering next-generation real estate agency, recently commissioned a national study* to uncover which professions are deemed the most and least trustworthy today. The results point to a growing need among consumers for transparent and honest interactions with people who deliver their news, make their laws, teach their children and sell their homes, but don’t feel as though those in key positions are always delivering on that expectation.

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National study commissioned by Purplebricks delves into the trustworthiness of bankers, journalists, politicians and real estate agents, among other occupations. For more information, visit www.purplebricks.com.(Graphic: Business Wire)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, teachers and doctors lead the pack with 91 and 90 percent of Americans believing the respective professions to be the most trustworthy. Conversely, professions ranked at the bottom of Americans’ coffers of trust are bankers (14 percent), journalists (11 percent), real estate agents (11 percent), car salespeople (six percent) and politicians (four percent). Interestingly, two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans feel that bankers – in spite of recession activity within the past decade – are more trustworthy than journalists (54 percent) or lawyers (53 percent).

“Transparency is an increasingly valued attribute in today’s culture in light of public mistrust across a number of professions,” said Jonathan Adler, Chief Marketing Officer, Purplebricks. “The fact that the public places more trust in financial institutions than their local real estate experts is quite telling, and it’s a paradigm that we at Purplebricks strive to change. By providing a clearer way of doing business, even going so far as allowing buyers and sellers to communicate directly to aid in transparency with local real estate experts available every step of the way, we’re aiming to usher in a new era of openness and honesty in the industry.”

The study also uncovered how men and women as well as various age groups and those living in different geographic regions trust differently. Additional findings include:

• National (In)security. Almost half (43 percent) of Americans feel politicians are not trustworthy at all, while they are nearly twice as likely to distrust a politician (79 percent) than a journalist (46 percent).
• With Age, Comes Distrust. Millennials are more trusting than older generations across a variety of professions. When compared to Boomers, Millennials are more trusting of journalists (59 percent vs. 50 percent), insurance salespeople (58 percent vs. 44 percent) and politicians (29 percent vs. 13 percent).
• Gender Reveal. There’s a gender gap when it comes to trusting a variety of professions, as more men than women describe doctors (40 percent vs. 33 percent), bankers (17 percent vs. 12 percent) and journalists (13 percent vs. 8 percent) as completely trustworthy.
• Sales Not Created Equal. Two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans say they cannot trust car salespeople, while around half (49 percent) say the same about those who sell insurance.
• Location, location, location. Americans from the West are more than twice as likely as those from the Midwest to find real estate agents not trustworthy at all. Moreover, Americans from the South are 83 percent more likely than those from the West to say journalists simply cannot be trusted at all.

With Purplebricks, home sellers in the U.S. only need to pay a low, fixed fee to list their home and, upon closing, pay the typical buyer’s agent commission, which is standard in U.S. residential real estate transactions. Purplebricks agents provide a full-service offering that includes pricing and staging advice, professional photography, signage and marketing, an immersive 3D virtual tour and dedicated support through closing.

Local homebuyers can use Purplebricks’ website and mobile app to view all available property listings on the market, instantly book multiple home tours with Purplebricks agents, safely and seamlessly communicate with sellers, and negotiate offers in real-time. The flexibility afforded by Purplebricks’ online platform provides buyers with greater speed and control over the transaction 24/7. As an added benefit, buyers who select Purplebricks to serve as their agent receive a $1,000 rebate on closing.

For more information about the Purplebricks’ platform, savings and services, please visit www.purplebricks.com.

*Online survey conducted by Kelton Global to 1,028 nationally representative Americans ages 18 and over, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.

About Purplebricks

Purplebricks, with offices in three major real estate markets including the United Kingdom, Australia and now the United States, is the pioneering next-generation real estate brokerage, combining highly experienced and professional Local Real Estate Experts with an innovative and intuitive technology platform to make the entire process of selling and buying homes much more convenient, transparent and cost effective. Purplebricks is transforming the way people perceive real estate agencies, while in the process helping sellers save thousands of dollars, affording buyers greater transactional flexibility and control and offering agents the chance to build and grow their own profitable businesses.

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Media Inquiries:ICR for Purplebricks in the USSeth Grugle, [e-mail]