A loss of trust in traditional institutions like the government or the media have pushed people to develop more trusted relationships at work and with their employers, according to Edelman’s 2019 Trust Barometer survey.
The report, released on Monday sets the mood of uncertainty and pessimism, ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit at Davos. It also noted that the Global Trust Index has witnessed a marginal increase of 3 points from 49 to 52.
The Index is the average percentage of trust in NGOs, business, government media. The findings are based on an online survey across 27 markets covering over 33,000 respondents. The fieldwork was conducted between October 19 and November 16, 2018.
China topped the Trust Index among both the informed public and the general population segments, with scores of 79 and 88 respectively. India was at the second place in the informed public category and third place in the general population category.
The informed public include those who are college-educated, earn above-average incomes and consume news regularly.
Trust India, but not Indian brands
India happens to be among the most trusted nations globally with respect to government, business, NGOs and media but the countrys brands are among the least-trusted, according to the report. In terms of trust in companies, those headquartered in India, Mexico and Brazil are the least trusted.
This is evinced in the poor growth of India’s smartphone sector, luxury goods and retail market, where global brands most of the market, often due to product specifications, competitive pricing, advertisement, state-of-the-art services stronger brand messaging. Very few homegrown services and enterprises have managed to win consumers’ trust despite India’s start-up boom over the last decade.
Today’s edition of neoliberalism-rots-your-brain: Edelman Earned Brand Report (2018)
” I believe brands can be a powerful force for change. I expect them to represent me and solve societal problems. My wallet is my vote.” https://t.co/OkmKeBCskh pic.twitter.com/Ievg3asvz7 Aimee Terese (@aimeeterese) January 20, 2019
At the same time, India now occupies a privileged position among six of the world’s biggest economies, owing to its prolific exports, which indicates that trust in Indian brands is a determining factor when it comes to the performance of its manufacturing sector.
Despite most state-owned banks battling insolvency and the widening wage gap and economic disparity, India is poised to overtake the UK and clinch the first place in the world’s largest economy rankings this year, according to a report by global consultancy firm PwC. It is already the fastest growing economy in the world.
CEOs under more pressure to save society
Respondents were asked about global companies headquartered in specific countries and how much they trust these firms ‘to do what is right’. Their responses were tabulated to reflect that most people tend to trust their employers, over the government, businesses and are sceptical of even the media and the non-profit sector.
Over three fourths (76%) of the respondents from the survey say CEOs should take the lead on change rather than waiting for to impose it. Bosses fetched 27 points more than government and 28 points more than the media.
People have low confidence that societal institutions will help them navigate a turbulent world, so they are turning to a critical relationship: their employer. https://t.co/4JFhfsIhEK via @RichardWEdelman #TrustBarometer pic.twitter.com/pOgGaElOhJ Edelman (@EdelmanPR) January 22, 2019
People have low confidence that societal institutions will help them navigate a turbulent world, so they are turning to a critical relationship: their employer, president and CEO of Edelman wrote in an essay titled Trust at Work, summing up the main findings of the annual survey.
“The last decade has seen a loss of faith in traditional authority figures and institutions,” he said, suggesting a crucial shift in the employee-employer relationship which creates new opportunities for CEOs to rebuild societal trust and address complicated issues with responsibility.
CEOs now have to be visible, show personal commitment, absolutely step into the void, because weve got a leadership void in the world, Edelman told Reuters.
Mass resistance will increase
Just one in five people believe that the economic, political and social system is working for them and 70 percent desire change. Despite a full-employment economy, the fear of job loss remains high among the general population, with nearly 60 percent believing that trade conflicts are hurting companies and putting their jobs at risk.
It also noted growing pessimism about the future, with only one in every three mass population respondents in the developed world believing their family would be better off after five years. The gloom is strongest among 84% of people in Japan, 79% in France, 74% in Germany and 72% in Britain.
I think Japans never really recovered from Fukushima, there was such a violation of trust when that happened, said Edelman, referring to the government’s botched response to 2011’s massive nuclear accident. Global demand for Japanese exports has slowed, the yen has risen sharply and a sharp rise, hikes in tax rates and health care costs have also affected its rapidly population.
For the European nations, the prospect of a diminished economic future has fuelled fear and anger. As for Britain, with the future of Brexit still undecided, the resentment and gloom will persist for as long as it takes the British economy and government to stabilise.
All this suggests that fundamental overhaul of the structure is long overdue.
Grassroot rebellions and mass corporate disobedience at companies have revealed a tendency of people taking power into their own hands, rather than seeking change through the traditional electoral process, the survey said. Movements like the gilet , #MeToo protests or IT sector walkouts such as the ones in Google and Amazon will become more mainstream in the near future, the report warns.
Fifth estate report
Despite widespread distrust of the media, uncertainty about the future has caused peoples consumption and sharing of news to rebound, up 22 points from last year’s 50%, owing to the growing desire for fact finding, the report found.
But it could not quite translate this consumption statistic into a parameter for trust. In the post-truth era of late-capitalism, media has become just another corporation-controlled commodity, failing to garner a high score on the trust meter.
Regular crackdown on investigative journalists, privacy and information activists and world leaders painting them as “the enemy of the people” certainly don’t help.
Nonetheless, when it comes to reliable sources for news, search and traditional are among the most trusted. Search and traditional media have a score of 66 each, while the score of social media is 44 , the report noted. “73 worry about false information or fake news being used as a weapon,” the report added.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius