Tag: Edelman Trust Barometer
2025 Edelman Trust Barometer unveils a “crisis of grievance”
In 2023, as discussed in this PubCo post, the Edelman Trust Barometer found that business was viewed as “the only trusted institution” at 62%—“the sole institution seen as competent and ethical.” Although, in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, that perception of business might still hold sway among the majority of respondents, this 25th anniversary edition of the Barometer brings to light a different zeitgeist—one that is more fraught and more disturbing. The subtitle of this edition—“Trust and the Crisis of Grievance”—tells the story. As described in the press release, the 2025 Barometer “reveals that economic fears have metastasized into grievance, with six in 10 respondents reporting moderate to high sense of grievance. This is defined by a belief that government and business harm them and serve narrow interests, and ultimately the wealthy benefit while regular people struggle.” This edition of the Barometer also exposed “a profound shift to acceptance of aggressive action, with political polarization and deepening fears giving rise to a widespread sense of grievance.” So, while business was still the only institution seen as competent and ethical, among those with a high sense of grievance, business was “seen as 81pts less ethical, 37pts less competent.” According to CEO Richard Edelman, “[o]ver the last decade, society has devolved from fears to polarization to grievance….Incumbents in the U.S., UK, France, Germany, South Korea and Canada were ousted amid voter anger over job loss to globalization and inflation. We now see a zero-sum mindset that legitimizes extreme measures like violence and disinformation as tools for change. The Barometer finds a 30-point trust gap in institutions between those with high and low grievance (Trust Index of 36 versus 66). Closing this gap fosters hope for a brighter future.” Does business have any role or responsibility in addressing this “crisis of grievance”? How might business leaders ameliorate the crisis?
Edelman Trust Barometer depicts business as a trusted, potentially stabilizing, force
Are there any institutions that we trust? According to an article from Edelman, which has just published the firm’s 23rd annual trust and credibility survey, while, as a society, we are still polarized and deeply distrustful, business was viewed as “the only trusted institution” at 62%. It’s sure not the ‘60s anymore! As the article recognizes, “[s]ome might have a hard time believing that today’s corporate leaders now stand as a stabilizing power in a fragile world.” As detailed in the new 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, “business is now the sole institution seen as competent and ethical; government is viewed as unethical and incompetent. Business is under pressure to step into the void left by government.” From 2020 to 2023, international survey participants increased the ethics grade for business by 19 points. Edelman attributes the stunning increase to business’s response “to the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 and Russia’s attack on Ukraine—among other pressing issues,” during which many “corporate leaders put self-interest aside.” In the survey, government and media were viewed as neither competent nor ethical, driving a “cycle of distrust” as “sources of “misleading information,” particularly social media. To what does the barometer attribute these poor outcomes? In large part, to a sense of entrenched division and polarization that both arises out of a loss of faith in institutions and also generates it. Economic anxiety and income inequality are also seen as major forces in fueling polarization. “Given the unsettled state of the world,” Edelman asks, “can business remain a stabilizing force”?
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