Philippine businesses are facing a significant challenge in maintaining consumer confidence as a nationwide study reveals that high costs, opaque pricing, and concerns over transaction transparency are eroding public trust. The 2026 Philippine Trust Study, conducted by the EON Group and Ateneo de Manila University, assigned the country’s first Business Trust Index a score of 72 out of 100, indicating that public confidence remains conditional across all major sectors. The study, which surveyed 800 Filipino adults between May and August, found that none of the nine industries evaluated achieved a “robust” trust rating. Among respondents who identified a least-trusted sector, 19.7 percent cited unreasonable pricing as their primary concern, while 14.7 percent pointed to unclear fees, 14.4 percent noted dishonest or nontransparent transactions, and 11.7 percent complained of hidden charges. These findings coincide with a period of economic pressure, as Philippine inflation reached 7.8 percent in October, prompting consumers to scrutinize the value provided by businesses. “Are customers staying because they trust a business, or because they have no other choice?” said EON Group President and COO Malyn Molina. “Businesses are part of the systems that keep our country moving, but being essential to people’s everyday lives does not make a business trustworthy. Filipinos should not have to keep absorbing the cost of poor value and unclear pricing.” The real estate and construction sector recorded the lowest confidence score at 67.7. The business process outsourcing, information and communications technology, and tourism and travel sectors followed with scores of 68.6, placing them in the study’s “Fragile Trust” category. While the food and agriculture sector received the highest rating at 75.6, followed by healthcare and pharmaceuticals at 75.4 and retail at 75.0, no industry reached the threshold for robust public confidence. The research indicates that consumers prioritize corporate integrity over brand recognition. When asked to rank attributes that determine trust, 34.6 percent of respondents identified honesty as the most important factor, followed by product and service quality. Brand prestige and public image were ranked as the least significant factors among the 16 attributes measured. “The prominence of honesty in the findings is significant,” said Wilfred Luis Clamor of the Ateneo Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “It tells us that Filipinos place great importance on whether businesses can be trusted to deal with them truthfully. But honesty is not judged in isolation. It is reinforced—or undermined—by the quality of products and services, the consistency of what businesses deliver, and how they treat the people affected by their decisions.” The study also found that corporate size does not guarantee consumer loyalty. Large enterprises earned a trust score of 72.3, only marginally higher than the 71.7 score recorded by micro, small, and medium enterprises. Researchers concluded that consumer trust is driven primarily by business conduct and the quality of the customer experience rather than the scale of the organization.
Article source: The Daily Tribune | Image credit: The Daily Tribune