Consumer Markets’ Trust Regimes across Europe

Abstract:

Given the importance of trust and confidence for the individual consumer's well-being and societies' overall consumer conditions, this paper intends to conceptualize, investigate and map European consumer markets' trust regimes. Based on statistics from DG Sanco's Consumer Condition Scoreboard 2012, trust dimensions in 29 European countries (EU27 + Norway and Iceland) are reanalyzed and compared.

The material reveals large differences in consumer markets' trust regime levels across Europe. This paper suggests that one way people evaluate consumer market institutions, is by their perceptions of food and product safety. The concluding discussion gives attention to possible discrepancies between consumer markets' trust regimes and consumer institutions' trustworthiness.