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closeTrust is key for building the reputation
Reputation & Reputational Risks
Trust is key for building the reputation
Madrid, January 26, 2012. Trust in companies, governments and NGOs decreased significantly in Spain, according to the results of Edelman’s Trust Barometer 2012, a report presented today in Madrid in the Spanish office of the European Commission.
The study reveals a sharp decline of trust in governments, year on year (27 points).
Business also demonstrates a decrease in the level of trust from 53% to 32%. According to Alan VanderMolen, President and CEO of Edelman Global Practices, this may mean a great opportunity for companies.
In terms of industries, Technology companies are still the most trusted companies in Spain (72%), followed by the sector of Food and Beverages (67%). Financial Services and Banking are the least trusted sectors, coming in the last two lines of the rating respectively.
The study reveals differences between the expectations of the society and performance of companies. Values such as “treating the employees well”, “placing customers ahead of profits” and “offering high quality products or services” are of paramount importance at the time when it is necessary to build trust. Ángel Alloza, CEO of Corporate Excellence-Centre for Reputation Leadership, stressed that today power is in the hands of stakeholders and that reputation management implies responsiveness to the expectations of stakeholders. According to Alloza, the key is to do what one promises and to do it well.
Alloza also emphasised the need to create a common roadmap for the public and private sectors in order to develop new trusted brands based on integrity, transparency and long-term vision.
Growing credibility of the employees and “someone like you”.
As for the credibility of information sources, results of the study point to a significant change of roles. Employees and the figure of “someone like you” are becoming more and more important, 24 points higher in both cases – a significant increase of trust.
On the opposite, trust in the CEO plunged dramatically (18 points), hitting the last but one position. NGOs are still reported to be the most trusted institution by the society.
Growth of trust in the social media
With respect to the sources of information, the study shows a significant growth (7%) of trust in the social media, which comes 6 points ahead of the corporate information sources. Traditional mass media are still the most trusted sources, although the level of trust decreased slightly.
Participants of the presentation included Alan VanderMolen, President and CEO of Edelman Global Practices, Ángel Alloza, CEO of Corporate Excellence-Centre for Reputation Leadership, Javier Noya, Chief Researcher for International Studies of Real Instituto Elcano, and Miguel Ángel Aguirre, CEO of Edelman Spain.
