Trust Me, Trust Me Not: An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Transparency on Organizations

Seen as a solution to lapses of organizational ethics and misdeeds, transparency helps to restore trust and diminish reputational risk or damage. Research has identified 2 types of transparency: (a) an organization's reputation for transparency and (b) its efforts to communicate transparently. Using experimental design, this study examined the relationship between the 2 types of transparency on trust and behavioral intentions of stakeholders in a crisis situation. Results determined that organizations demonstrating both types of transparency achieved more than twice the levels of trust and positive behavioral intentions than organizations that demonstrated neither type of transparency.