BIGresearch is a syndicated survey research firm whose misson, according to their website, is to provide the "premier knowledge base of consumer insights, past, present and future to executives in the retail and package goods industry." I haven't worked with them at all, but I enjoy their work. They tend to ask fun and interesting questions, and they release a fair amount of their data to the public.
They recently did some survey work on consumer trust of politicians and media (registration is required to see the detailed survey results). Not surprisingly they found that consumers simply don't trust either with roughly 70% of adult Americans saying they did not trust politicians or the media.
A wide range of research shows that consumers are losing/have lost trust in traditional institutions over the last several decades, including businesses of all sizes. This creates opportunities for firms that can created trusted relationships with their customers.