Public trust in scientists: exploring the perception and relevance of trust cues in media content

Trust in science is often mediated via trust cues, i.e. information provided in content about science referring to dimensions of trust in science (i.e. expertise, integrity, benevolence, transparency, dialogue) as reasons for placing trust in scientists. Even though trust cues have been identified in media content, perspectives of public audiences have thus far been neglected. Therefore, we conducted four online focus groups (n = 23 German participants) to assess the perceptions and relevance of trust cues. Our findings show that even though evaluations are individual, for most participants expertise and integrity cues were most important for their trust in scientists.