Edelman Tust Barometer 2015

Again a very interesting report about trust in today’s world from Edelman. We picked some of the most interesting results from the report to share with with.

State of global trust

The number of trusting countries fell to the lowest level ever recorded by the Trust Barometer. Only six of 27 countries surveyed expressing trust levels above 60 percent. Countries like U.K., South Africa, Hong Kong and South Korea slid from neutral to distrusting status. Among the general public, the trust deficit is even more pronounced, with nearly two-thirds of countries falling into the distruster category While still maintaining their trust-ing status, the UAE, China, India and Indonesia all registered precipitous drops among the general population.

Trust in business and government

Government was the only institution to gain trust in 2015, driven by improvements in 16 countries, including India, which recorded a nearly 30 percentage point gain; Russia, with a 27 percent gain; and Indonesia, with a 19 percent gain. Yet despite its overall rise, the fact remains that government is still the least trusted institution globally. Informed publics in 19 of 27 countries distrust government to do what is right. rust levels in business decreased in 16 of 27 countries. The majority of countries now sit below 50 per-cent with regard to trust in business. Leading the declines were Canada, Argentina, Germany, Australia and Singapore. 

When we look at trust in business sectors we see that technology remains the most trusted of all industry sectors at 78 percent. Although we see a decline across all technology-based industries in 2015. Privacy and security breaches have weakened trust in both technology products and the sector. I believe this trend will continu to grow. The least trusted industries are Media, Banking and Financial services. Well what’s new about that? 

In developed countries, family-owned businesses carry a trust premium of nearly 30 percentage points when compared to big business. In contrast, in developing countries, big business is more trusted than a family-owned enterprise by six percentage points.

Authority and spokesmen

Academics, industry experts and technical experts are the most credible spokes-people for business, standing in contrast to CEOs. The leaders of organizations are now nearly half as trusted with trust levels at 43 percent. The lowest trust have the CEO’s in The Netherlands with only 26%. In three-quarters of countries, CEOs are not viewed as credible spokespeople. The trust deficit for CEOs isparticularly pronounced in the developed world.

Innovation

The Trust Barometer reveals that today’s pace of development and change by business and industry is perceived as being too fast by 51 percent of the people participating in the survey. Only19 percent feel it is just right. We see that the consumer wants more meaningful organizations. Which mean organizations which add value to society and the lives of people. Respondents decisively indicated that business shoulders a responsibility to deliver both economic and societal benefits. Specifically, 81 percent agree that a company can take actions that both increase profits and improve the economic and social conditions in the community where it operates. Seventy-five percent believe that a company can be more profitable by finding ways to solve social and community problems.

For more detailed information view the presentation below

Source: Edelman