In this year’s edition of Edelman’s Trust Barometer, one thing is clear – societal institutions are not trusted. The report reveals that despite a strong global economy and near full employment, none of the four societal institutions that the study measures—government, business, NGOs and media—is trusted. The cause of this paradox can be found in people’s fears about the future and their role in it, which are a wake-up call for our institutions to embrace a new way of effectively building trust: balancing competence with ethical behavior.
The report, which surveyed 28 markets for a total of 34,000+ respondents, found that:
- 56% of respondents believe that capitalism, as it exists today, does more harm than good in the world
- 57% believe that the media they use is contaminated with untrustworthy information
- 73% of respondents believe that a company can take actions that both increase profits and improve conditions in communities where it operates
- 87% of respondents believe that stakeholders, not shareholders, are most important to long-term company success
- 74% of respondents believe CEOs should take the lead on change rather than waiting for the government to impose it (up 9 points from 2019)
