Review of the Edelman Trust Barometer
Overview of the Edelman Trust Barometer
This is the 12th year Edelman has conducted the Trust Barometer, a survey on the state of credibility. Each year Edelman examines trust in four areas--government, business, media and nongovernmental organizations—as well as communications channels and sources. Here are the stats on how the survey is made up:
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Online survey in 25 countries
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30,000+ respondents
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Ages 18+
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College-educated
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In top 25% of household income per age group in each country
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Report significant media consumption and engagement in business news and public policy
Steve Lombardo, the CEO of StrategyOne – Edelman’s Independent Research Firm, explains how the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer was designed in the following video:
What are the 2012 results?
The results of the 2012 survey are not necessarily surprising. However, the survey provides valuable data that supports many of the things we all suspected while bringing up new insights one may not have thought of.
The survey starts off by explaining there is an overall decline in trust throughout the world, especially in government and business. Government is now the least trusted of the four areas examined. This is evident as society sees the issues with the US Congress, governments declining throughout the world and the increasing strength behind movements such as Occupy Wall Street. Media was the only category to see a rise in trust from the 2011 survey.
Other key findings in the 2012 survey include:
- People want more regulation of business despite business having a better standing than government
- CEO and government officials are the least credible sources while regular employees and “people like me” are amongst the most credible
- Traditional media and online search engines are the most trusted sources of information
- Social media saw the biggest increase in trust amongst media sources
- Audiences need to hear information multiple times from various sources in order to believe it
- Japan experienced a significant drop in trust
Here is a graphic snapshot of the Edelman Trust Barometer:
How can this be used in media relations?
The 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer provides media relations professionals with key insight into how to craft and deliver a message. This information can be used to tailor a strategy by identifying the most trusted person to deliver a message, the best ways to deliver a message and anticipate the general level of distrust a message will encounter.
For example, a media relations professional supporting a worldwide bank can anticipate their message will encounter significant resistance due to the low amount of trust in business and banking. They can tailor their message so it doesn’t come from the CEO since CEOs are one of the least trusted sources and anticipate they’ll receive a greater amount of resistance in Japan. In addition, they can ensure the message is repeated several times through various outlets since repetition through multiple sources, especially social media, decreases skepticism.
