The Trust Hierarchy

The chart ranks how much buyers trust each source with a row of bars. Coworkers sit at 82 percent, current vendors at 79, industry peers at 72, and a vendor's own customers at 69. Paid social influencers sit alone at the bottom at 44 - a 22-point drop below the next source. The sources buyers trust most are the relationships and proof you have to earn, not the attention you can buy.