Collaboration key to trust but delicate balance needed – Edelman Trust Barometer

The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer was the subject of a breakfast webinar briefing hosted by Airmic.

Matt Reeves, client management leader, AXA XL, joined Julia Graham, CEO, Airmic, to talk through the conclusions of the global survey published by public relations firm Edelman.

In its 23rd year, the survey polled 32,000 respondents across 28 countries and found trust in institutions at a crucial juncture in a world that looks more uncertain than ever.

“Last year was intended to be a year of normality after the pandemic. Unfortunately, global events have moved the needle, from societal fears to personal fears,” said Reeves.

The report shows some cyclical conclusions about trust levels for government, NGOs and corporate entities. In recent years, NGOs were the most trusted entity, trust in government peaked around the time of the pandemic, but it is businesses that are now in the lead.

“In 2011, it was concluded that businesses must work with government to regain trust, and now it seems government is being told to work with business to rebuild trust in much the same way,” Reeves said.

Government and business working in partnership was four times more likely than business working alone to result in constructive action, according to the report.

“Societal outcomes are better when business and government work together,” said Reeves.

One difference to the situation a decade ago is that it is now in government’s interest to work with business to rebuild trust, a reversal of the post-financial crisis state of affairs.

“Working independently, which is at times what appears be happening, seems like it will not achieve the outcomes we’re looking for, in comparison to working in proper partnership,” Reeves said.

“This comes back to a conversation about populism and short-termism, whereas perhaps businesses can more easily take a longer-term and pragmatic approach to some of these topics,” he added.

The report highlights “increasing polarisation” in society, with four summary causes for this.

The first of these are economic anxieties, as most people no longer expect to get richer. Secondly, is institutional imbalance, with businesses now the only type of institution seen as both ethical and competent, clear signs that a mass class divide and an associated trust gap are growing. Thirdly, the media environment is worsening, social media use is growing, but trust in media is decreasing. And finally, the majority of respondents thought CEOs should hold accountable the divisive forces responsible for society’s polarisation.

CEOs are increasingly obligated to defend facts and expose questionable science when used to justify bad social policy, the report argued. A majority of respondents thought that companies could strengthen the social fabric by supporting politicians.

However, Reeves suggested that this could be problematic for firms seeking to maintain political neutrality and requisite distance from the pell-mell of partisan politics.

“I think this is a difficult position to put businesses in, because the danger is we become far more politicised as a result. If there is bad social policy based on questionable science, it is difficult for business to get involved in that without becoming part of the political argument,” he said.

Regardless, increased public-private collaboration is seen as the direction of travel – echoing the findings of the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risk Report, which also called for more collaboration between state and industry.

The results of the Edelman survey advocate for a leading societal role for business and that the best result will come from increasing collaboration with government. It also calls for efforts to restore economic optimism, encouraging fairness and community outreach to counter the class divide and polarisation trends.

Lastly, business should “advocate for the truth”, according to the report. This poses some questions for how organisations engage with [missing copy?] and on social media.

“Every institution is expected to contribute to the self-regulation of information quality, which as it stands seems to be a worsening position…It’s very difficult for businesses not to utilise social media for marketing,” Reeves noted.

In conclusion, he noted a quote from former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, that: “Trust is a precious thing and when it goes, it is not easily rebuilt.”

“Business has made great strides in recent years, particularly at times when other institutions have been dropping the ball. Now is the time to capitalise on that, by making sure we protect the position that we’re in and continuing to contribute to society in the way people are looking for us to do so,” he added.

You can watch the Airmic webinar on the Edelman Trust Barometer Report 2023,

with Matt Reeves, client management leader, AXA XL, and Julia Graham, CEO, Airmic, here.