FASCINATING BUSINESS INSIGHTS FROM EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER

For 15 years, Edelman has conducted its annual study on trust – the Edelman Trust Barometer – which in total surveys 33,000 respondents in 27 countries on their trust in the institutions of government, media, business and NGOs. Each January, the findings are released at a presentation to more than 200 CEOs, CCOs, CMOs, government leaders, media and academics from around the globe at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Bay Area Council staff was fortunate to get a briefing recently on the results from Maria Amundson, Global Chair of Edelman’s Technology Sector and Bay Area Council Board member, and Edelman Executive Vice President Ravi Moorthy.

The 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals an alarming evaporation of trust across all institutions, reaching the lows of the Great Recession in 2009. For the first time, the Edelman Trust Barometer looked at trust and its link to innovation and found that trust issues are hindering acceptance of technological advancements. Additionally, the decline in trust in the CEO as a credible spokesperson continued for the third consecutive year.

In California, residents trust traditional institutions (business, government, media) less than residents in the rest of the country. In the Bay Area, eight out of 10 Bay Area residents believe that technology sector is having a positive impact on their community; contrast that with nearly four out of 10 Bay Area residents who believe that the real estate sector is having a negative impact on their community. Transportation and healthcare are two other sectors that are perceived as having negative impacts in the Bay Area.

For other key findings, please visit edelman.com/trust2015. If you are interested in having Edelman give your company a presentation on global, sector-specific or California-specific findings, please contact Bay Area Council Chief Membership and Development Officer Kirsten Vernon.