Public relations' role as trust strategist: a specialist niche evolves from turbulence

Abstract

Trust production is evolving into an area of specialist knowledge, evidenced by the recent proliferation of trust surveys, such as the Edelman Trust Barometer. Following recent global market turbulence, public relations has increasingly promoted its role as ‘trust strategist, able to maintain, manage and restore trust. Using the site of the UK investment management industry, this exploratory paper argues that trust production involves a complex series of discursive material and material trust practices enacted by a wide range of experts, not just public relations professionals. At the same time, a discursive understanding of trust production could improve public relations’ professional influence