Trust has been in something of a crisis in recent years, with our faith in institutions, whether government, corporate or religious plummeting.  This has had considerable implications, whether in the rise of fake news or the surge in populism across the western world.

The benchmark for trust is often the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, and they have recently released the latest edition.  Perhaps not surprisingly in a year in which Donald Trump has been in office, the survey revealed the sharpest drop in trust in the United States in the history of the survey.  It revealed a nine point drop in trust among the general population to just 43 points.  This places trust in the US among the lower quarter of the 28 countries surveyed for the project.

What’s more, this fall was sharpest among the ‘informed public’ for whom trust ratings fell by a whopping 23 points, making trust among this particular demographic the lowest of all countries surveyed.  That means lower than the likes of Russia and South Africa.

Decline in trust

This massive decline in trust has largely been driven by a lack of faith in government, which fell by 14 points to 33% among the general population, but by an incredible 30 points to 33% among the informed public.  Trust in other institutions also suffered, with the likes of the media, business and NGOs also experiencing declines in trust of between 10 and 20%.

“The United States is enduring an unprecedented crisis of trust,” Edelman say. “This is the first time that a massive drop in trust has not been linked to a pressing economic issue or catastrophe like the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In fact, it’s the ultimate irony that it’s happening at a time of prosperity, with the stock market and employment rates in the U.S. at record highs. The root cause of this fall is the lack of objective facts and rational discourse.”

Given the way various governments around the world have attempted to distort the media, either by manipulating it as in Russia or by denigrating it as in America, it is perhaps not surprising that the media is the least trusted institution globally.  In fully 22 of the 28 countries surveyed, it is not distrusted, with this lack of trust shared by a lack of faith in platforms such as Google and Facebook.  People revealed that they no longer knew how to distinguish fact from fiction, or even in many instances whether news was coming from a respected source.

Experts holding firm

Whilst experts were famously derided by British politician Michael Gove during the Brexit referendum, our faith in experts has actually seen a bounce in the last year.  Both technical and academic experts were rated as a better source of credible opinion than our peers.

“In a world where facts are under siege, credentialed sources are proving more important than ever,” said Stephen Kehoe, Global chair, Reputation. “There are credibility problems for both platforms and sources. People’s trust in them is collapsing, leaving a vacuum and an opportunity for bona fide experts to fill.”

The report goes on to suggest that businesses are now expected to be the main drivers of change.  Some 72% of respondents had faith in their employer, with 64% of people believing that companies can pursue both profitability and social good at the same time.

Technology (75%) remains the most trusted industry sector followed by Education (70%), professional services (68%) and transportation (67%). Financial services (54%) was once again the least trusted sector along with consumer packaged goods (60%) and automotive (62%).