Trust in business and media highest in India: Edelman Trust Barometer 2013

Business and media emerge as clear winners where trust is concerned over the government and NGOs in India, in the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer findings released by Edelman India here today.

The annual survey, the 13th so far and conducted among 31,000 respondents in 26 countries, records a 12 percentage point increase in trust in business in India among informed publics, from 69 percent in 2012 to 81 percent. Trust in media has risen by nine percentage points over the past year, up from 70 percent to 79 percent in 2013. In contrast, trust in NGOs has remained stable at 69 percent from 67 percent in 2012.  Trust in Government has remained static, increasing by a statistically insignificant four percentage points, from 53 percent in 2012 to 57 percent among informed publics.

‘Informed public’ is defined as college-educated individuals between ages 25-64, who are among the top 25% of household income per age group in each country, while ‘general public’ includes respondents 18 years and above who are  nationally representative of the population.

The survey shows that the gap between trust levels in business and government continues to widen and is currently marked by a 24 percentage point difference. Another indication of the difference in trust between business and government comes from the fact that only 17 percent of the general public respondents in India do not trust business leaders to tell the truth, whereas 39 percent do not trust government leaders to tell the truth, regardless of how complex or unpopular the issue is. But while the results paint a healthy picture for business leaders, the survey does sound a note of caution for them as well. As the survey indicates, only 34 percent of the general public “trust business leaders to tell the truth”.

In the context of business in India, David Brain, President and CEO, Edelman Asia Pacific, said: “The 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer clearly indicates that the India results are the most nuanced amongst all emerging economies. There is an inherent optimism amongst the Indian public and, with the high trust levels; a clear opportunity is indicated for businesses. But while business today enjoys greater trust than the others, the lower trust in business leaders reflects that the public expects more from them. Evidently, trust is fragile and heavily based on public perceptions of institutions.  Businesses would benefit from building greater trust through deeper engagement, heightened levels of integrity and social purpose, and better products and operations for their consumers and stakeholders.”

Another noteworthy highlight of the 13th Edelman Trust barometer is that global companies headquartered in the U.S., Japan and U.K. are the most trusted among the informed public in India, with scores of 89 percent, 88 percent and 82 percent, respectively.

The most credible spokespeople in business were not CEOs but an “academic or expert” (82 percent), a “technical expert in the company” (77 percent) and a “financial or industry analyst” (77 percent), with CEOs at 73 percent.

Amongst businesses, Technology (90 percent), Energy (86 percent), Automotive (88 percent) and Banks (84 percent) are the most trusted sectors, while the Brewing and Spirits industry continues to be the least trusted sector.

Amongst media, online search engines emerge as highly trusted sources at 85 percent while trust in traditional media like newspapers, radio and magazines continues to be high at 81 percent. Recent activism on a variety of causes of social importance on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, also leads to steady trust levels in these tools as news sources at 73 percent.

Trust levels among NGOs and civil society do not see any significant change, with 69 percent informed publics trusting them, while the credibility of NGOs or Civil Society activists as spokespersons scores 59 percent among informed public and 53 percent among general public.

While business braces itself to sustain the trust levels, the survey makes it evident that the media, government and NGOs cannot afford to lie low either and must do everything in their capacity to gain and sustain the trust of Indian publics.