I grew up listening to Walter Cronkite report the evening news and like many Americans during those years, I believed in what he said from the news desk. His recent death has brought the word “trust” to the forefront of my mind more than once in the last few days. After all, during his career as anchor of the CBS Evening News various polls identified him as the “most trusted man in America.” What working journalist today would approach that high perch?

Trust is partially a matter of authenticity. For Cronkite listeners, his depth of experience and kind demeanor was the real thing, and that translated into trust.

But who do you trust now? In today’s ever-changing world of communication and social media, authenticity comes in the form of opinions and recommendations from people you know and from consumers online.

An April study conducted by Nielsen Co. found that when it comes to trust, personal recommendations and consumer opinions posted online are most valued by consumers worldwide. Ninety percent of respondents said they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent said they trusted consumer opinions posted online. Branded Web sites were also trusted by 70 percent of respondents.

The twice-yearly Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey gauged opinions from 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries. The results,said a Nielsen executive, show that advertisers are being forced to use “a more realistic form of advertising that is grounded in the experience of consumers rather than in the lofty goals of advertisers.”

In other words, a satisfied customer who is eager to share that satisfaction with other is a highly credible and mostly likely very effective, selling tool.

If you ever underestimated the power of word of mouth and word of mouse referrals, this survey clears up those doubts and underscores where the trust lies these days – in the hands of the connected consumer.

The California Cut Flower Commission recently took its latest campaign right to one very connected group with a strong following online. Read here how it tapped into the live wire of mommy bloggers to California-grown flowers.