The Troubling Topic For Trust In Business

Julie Starr • April 19, 2022

Trust is a topic that has been focused on in a number of different conferences, articles, and management books. Trust is claimed to be some almost magical economic elixir that explains everything from enhanced happiness to productivity gains. However, in reality, it is just as challenging and complicated to measure at an organizational, individual, and team level. Luckily, there have been discoveries in neuroscience that have provided us with actionable, peer-reviewed, rigorous, and fresh insight into what trust is, how to measure it, and most importantly, how businesses can create and enhance trust to improve their performance. 



In this blog post, will take a look at the science behind trust and how leaders can cultivate it by giving more in business. 

Understanding trust

There is only one place to begin, and this is by understanding what trust is. In 2001, Steve Kanck and Paul J. Zack released a biologically based model that provided us with the first comprehensive mathematical derivation of trust. It showed us that we can lower the transaction expenses that are linked with investment decisions through sheer trust. It was all about improving the confidence in what the other party would do. This involved using 41 different countries, and the outcome was that the strongest predictor economists had ever found was trust. Since then, trust was deemed an economic lubricant, which lowered the friction that usually happened during economic activity. This same relationship can be applied to organizations when it comes to describing interpersonal interactions between the workforce.

Oxytocin

One of the turning points when it comes to trust in business and in leadership was the discovery of oxytocin and the role it plays. This is where the neuroscience of trust really comes into play. Oxytocin is a neurochemical , and trustworthiness is predicted by the amount of oxytocin produced. Therefore, the study of this chemical enabled us to understand things from a different perspective. One study involved giving synthetic oxytocin to patients. In this research, it found that those participants were twice as likely to show optimal trust by sending all of their money to someone else and they also trusted strangers with 17 percent more money. There has since been further research into this chemical that shows that it works by increasing our empathy and emotional connection to someone else, which again, increases trust. After all, we are motivated to help other people when our empathy is enhanced. So, what does this mean for your business? Well, it is all about creating an environment whereby trust is high, and this means an environment whereby more oxytocin is created. 

Start by reducing stress

One of the most important elements when it comes to creating reciprocity within the working environment, which of course, enhances productivity is to lower stress . This is because there are a number of neurochemicals that either inhibit or promote the brain’s release of oxytocin. One of the chemicals that inhibits oxytocin from developing is epinephrine, which is a stress hormone. When we are experiencing periods of high stress, epinephrine will spike the blood pressure and heart rate, which stops us from connecting to other people and feeling empathy. Therefore, in high-stress environments, creating the trust that is needed for your business to flourish is impossible. Interestingly, though, oxytocin release increases when there are moderate levels of stress, and so it is all about finding a balance. We like a challenge and we will often turn to others to assist us. If you create a workplace that is challenging without tipping people overboard, you can create the perfect environment for trust. People will feel the need to lean on one another and help one another, which will promote autonomy, which in turn promotes innovation to build a strong team. 

Building a high trust culture

When you take all of this into account, building a high trust culture whereby reciprocity lies at the core of productivity is all about designing a work environment whereby oxytocin can be released a lot of times throughout the day. Therefore, you can put together a set of actionable ways to design a business culture that bolsters and sustains interpersonal trust by understanding the brain circuit that oxytocin activates. This should include the likes of recognizing accomplishments through price, enabling participative decision-making and celebrating mistakes as opportunities to learn, and stimulating oxytocin through timed group challenges.

It does not matter whether you run an insurance company, like West Point Insurance Services , or you have a retail clothing store, you need to make sure that there is trust across your business. Trust will enable other areas of your business to flourish as a consequence. You will find that your workforce is more productive because they will not be second-guessing everything they do. Instead, they will be able to do their jobs with full confidence, and the difference that this can make is truly astounding. 

Remember that trust takes time to build but it can take seconds to destroy

While we are on the subject of trust, it is imperative to realize that while trust can take a while to build, it can also be destroyed in just a matter of seconds. This is why you cannot afford to take your eye off the ball when it comes to this area of your company. No one wants to have to embark on the process of rebuilding trust, as it is definitely not something that is easy to do. 

Final words on the troubling topic of trust in business

All things considered, we hope that this blog post has helped you to get a better understanding of the power of reciprocity in business and workplaces. There is no denying that this plays a critical role. However, trust is something that is incredibly difficult to measure and understand, which is why you need to look at it from a neuroscience point of view. 

Greener Clicks: How to Reduce Your Environmental Impact with Sustainable Digital Marketing

By Julie Starr • March 31, 2025
In the race to decarbonize our world, one area often overlooked is digital marketing. While it might seem inherently clean compared to print or physical campaigns, our online activities have a real and measurable environmental footprint. From servers powering your website to emails filling up inboxes, every click, stream, and scroll contributes to carbon emissions. At Taiga Company, we believe digital strategies can be powerful and low-impact. Here’s how to get started. Optimize for a Low-Carbon Web Why it matters: Websites and digital ads are hosted on servers that consume electricity, often powered by fossil fuels. Every time a user loads your site or ad, it uses energy. How to reduce your impact: Host green: Choose web hosts that use renewable energy or offset emissions. Clean up your code: Streamlined, efficient code reduces load times and energy use. Compress and reduce images: Smaller files mean faster pages and fewer emissions. Limit heavy media: Videos and animations are carbon-intensive; use them mindfully. A faster, leaner website isn’t just better for the planet—it also boosts SEO and user experience. Email Marketing with Intention Why it matters: Every email sent, received, and stored requires energy. Multiply that by millions of sends, and the impact adds up. How to reduce your impact: Clean your lists: Remove inactive subscribers to avoid waste. Segment wisely: Only send emails to those who will truly benefit. Use plain-text when possible: It’s lower in data and often more accessible. Reduce frequency: Send fewer, higher-quality emails with genuine value. Intentional emailing reduces not only emissions but also improves deliverability and engagement. Sustainable SEO and Content Strategy Why it matters: Search engines crawl, index, and serve up billions of web pages daily. Thoughtless content and bloated sites add to the load. How to reduce your impact: Create evergreen content: Focus on high-quality pages that stay relevant longer. Streamline your site structure: Fewer clicks to find content = less energy use. Use minimal plugins and scripts: Especially ones that load on every page. Green your CMS: Some content management systems are more resource-efficient than others. Sustainable SEO isn’t just eco-friendly—it’s good strategy. Fewer, better pieces often perform better than content mills. Rethink Marketing Automation Why it matters: Automated emails, ads, and data syncing can create a lot of digital clutter. That clutter eats up storage and energy. How to reduce your impact: Audit regularly: Retire old workflows and outdated automations. Optimize syncing: Reduce how often and how much data is transferred. Segment with purpose: Better targeting means fewer wasted sends. Use expiration dates: Don’t let outdated content or assets live forever. Efficient automation can reduce emissions and improve performance. Digital marketing isn’t going away—and it shouldn’t. It offers powerful tools for connection, education, and growth. But like all tools, it can be used more sustainably. At Taiga Company, we’re committed to helping organizations lower their environmental impact without sacrificing reach or results. Sustainable digital marketing is not only possible; it’s essential. Ready to make your marketing aligned with your company's corporate sustainability plan? Let’s start the conversation.

World Water Day 2025: How Beverage Brands Are Leading on Water—and Why Communicating It Matters

By Julie Starr • March 24, 2025
At Taiga Company, we work alongside brands who are not only doing the hard work of sustainability—but are learning how to talk about it in ways that connect with their stakeholders. This World Water Day , we’re reflecting on how leading beverage companies are advancing bold water stewardship goals and communicating those efforts clearly, thoughtfully, and strategically across digital platforms. Water is foundational to the beverage industry. From ingredient sourcing to packaging to community health, it’s a resource that demands attention—not just in terms of conservation, but in terms of how that commitment is shared with consumers, investors, regulators, and partners. Below, we’re highlighting three beverage companies whose recent water stewardship actions—and storytelling—stood out. PepsiCo: From Field to Community, Global Water Replenishment in Action PepsiCo launched 16 new water replenishment projects across nine countries in 2024 alone, restoring more than 1.7 billion liters of water to local ecosystems. These projects are practical and people-centered—ranging from irrigation efficiency in Texas to sustainable farming practices in the Dominican Republic. What stood out: clear project data, human-focused storytelling, and alignment with global frameworks. PepsiCo’s water webpage provides easy access to targets, progress updates, and case studies, helping stakeholders understand both the “why” and the “how.” Suntory Global Spirits: Water at the Heart of the Brand Suntory’s brands—from Maker’s Mark in Kentucky to Yamazaki in Japan—share a common origin: water. The company’s commitment to being net water positive by 2050 isn’t just a corporate goal—it’s integrated into brand storytelling, on-site conservation efforts, and supplier engagement. Their message is rooted in authenticity: water isn’t just an operational input, it’s an essential ingredient in their identity. Learn more on Suntory’s efforts via their LinkedIn post . Asahi Group Holdings: Building Local Water Resilience Together In the Netherlands, Asahi’s Koninklijke Grolsch partnered with stakeholders in the Twente region to develop a local water platform focused on reducing consumption and innovating wastewater reuse. This goes beyond operational efficiency—it’s about building water resilience within a shared ecosystem. Their community-first framing and long-term investment approach were key themes in this post . Why This Matters At Taiga Company, we believe that sustainability actions only go as far as their ability to be understood, felt, and trusted. Communicating water stewardship isn’t just about reporting metrics or sharing photos of wetlands (although both can help). It’s about giving stakeholders the context they need to see a company’s values in motion—clear commitments, thoughtful execution, and measurable impact.  If your team is evolving its water strategy—or simply looking for better ways to communicate what you're already doing—we’d love to be part of that conversation.
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