Trust factor has emerged as the worst casualty of the year gone by, with nearly half of Indians reposing less faith in its corporations and government, a report says.
As many as 62 per cent in the world reported a decline in trust level on corporations. In India, the findings are little better than world standards, but still as many as 49 per cent Indians repose less faith in their corporations than they did
a year ago, as per the Edelman Trust Barometer report.
The report further says, "This year (2008), the world had more reasons than ever before to suspend its trust and for the most part, our data reflects this. Nearly two out of three informed people say they trust corporations less now than they did a year ago."
The year 2008, among other things, saw government bailing out banks in New York and London, American auto bailout, a USD 50-billion Ponzi scheme and an Indian tech moghul's fraudulent enterprise started to crumble.
"It has been a catastrophic year for business, well beyond the evident destruction in shareholder value and need for emergency government funding," Edelman president and CEO Raichard Edelman said.
Edelman further said, "Our survey confirms that it's going to be harder to rebuild our economies, because no institution has captured the trust that business has lost is not a zero-sum game. Business must partner with government and other institutions to assume societal responsibilities."
Trust in corporations is down across the world, with the United States registering the maximum decline, as nearly 77 per cent contacted there said they trust corporation less this year than they did a year ago.
Globally also similar trend was witnessed as nearly 73 per cent Germans had less faith in business as well as corporations, the United States and France registered fall of 67 per cent, for China it was 56 per cent and for India it was 49 per cent.
"When it comes to being distrusted, business is not alone. Globally, trust in business, media and government is half-empty; and trust in government scores even lower than trust in business," the report said.
Interestingly, though there was lack of trust in the Western economies that have historically shaped the global agenda, trust in business in several emerging economies increased.
In China, the "trust in business" score rose from 54 - 71 per cent among 35-to-64-year-olds. In Brazil, it climbed to 69 per cent from 61 per cent a year ago.
Meanwhile when trust in banking dropped by 33 percentage points in the United States, trust in banks rose to 84 per cent from 72 per cent in China, and from 52-59 per cent in Brazil.
"People in emerging economies credit business with improved standards of living, which remain at historically high levels. But this trust gain for business may now be at risk, as 79 per cent of Japanese, 56 per cent of Chinese, and 49 per cent of Indian opinion leaders say they have growing concerns about business, and Korea, Mexico, and Brazil report new low levels of trust in CEOs as spokespeople," said Mr Edelman.
