Friday 26 May 2006

Who do New Zealanders trust? 2006 winners and losers

If you can't trust your partner, who can you trust? Certainly not your neighbour if the results of the 2006 Reader's Digest "New Zealand's Most Trusted" survey are anything to go by.

Relationships is a new category in the annual poll, released today, with Kiwis being asked to rank who they trust most of their nearest, their dearest, their workmates and their neighbours.

Partners topped the list, followed closely by best friends. Children and mothers rated best of the family relationships, while respondents ranked their workmates, their boss and their neighbours as least trustworthy.

Returning to the survey for a second year is Individuals, with Sir Edmund Hillary once again topping our most trusted individual poll. New Zealanders' love of sport is evidenced with a raft of sportspeople including cyclist, Sarah Ulmer, rugby player, Tana Umaga and golfer, Michael Campbell.

Nine of our top 10 entrants in this category have a sporting background - earning children's author, Margaret Mahy, who scored seventh, a well-deserved mention.

Our top most trusted individuals, a category which ranks 75 well-known New Zealanders, have one common trait - humility - while those at the lower end of the scale are perceived to be motivated by self interest.

ACT leader, Rodney Hide's current star turn on the dance floor will need to do wonders to lift his trust rating - he came in at 73, along with fellow politicians Winston Peters on 71 and Tariana Turia on 74. High profile Algerian refugee, Ahmed Zaoui, and Bishop Brian Tamaki, founder of the Destiny Church, rounded out the bottom five.

Politicians once again scored the dubious honour of the survey's least trusted profession, just marginally behind car salespeople and, a new entrant this year, telemarketers. Politicians have now earned the wooden spoon of the professions category for six years in a row.

Firefighters, our most trusted profession for the last three years, once again took top honours followed by ambulance officers, pilots, nurses and doctors.

Longevity is proving a winner for our most trusted brands, with chocolate maker, Cadbury - a New Zealand name for more than 80 years - again topping the list, followed by Tip Top, Fisher & Paykel, Panadol and Sanitarium.

Credit card companies still have a way to go in the trust stakes, with American Express and Diners Club the two least trusted of the 103 brands surveyed.

The Reader's Digest Trust Survey is now in its sixth year. Independent market research company, the Leading Edge, conducted the online survey of a statistically representative sample of 500 adult New Zealanders.

Kiwis and Aussies - Who Trusts Who?

Forget trans-Tasman rivalry, we are a close match in the trust stakes .. except when it comes to sport.

* Nine of our top 10 trusted people have a background in - yes - sport. Sporting heroes don't even feature in the Aussie top 10.

* Politicians on both sides of the Tasman rank poorly when it comes to trust, but cricketer Shane Warne scores the dubious honour of last but one on the Aussie list, and refugee Ahmed Zaoui is near the bottom of ours.

* Australia's stars of medicine sweep top honours. Sporting stars sweep ours.

* "Neighbours" may be an Aussie institution, but they don't trust their neighbours and nor do we.

* It is our partners that we turn to first - they earn the top spot for trust on both sides of the Tasman.

* Is it the uniform? Aussies and Kiwis agree that firefighters, ambulance officers, pilots, pharmacists, doctors and nurses deserve the top spots when it comes to most trusted professions.

* Australians have even less faith in telemarketers than we do. A new choice this year, telemarketers are bottom of the Aussie list and saved only by car salespeople and politicians on ours.

* Kiwis and Aussies agree that Cadbury is tops when it comes to brand trust.

ENDS

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