Every company “needs to be a media company” and to use the internet as well as more traditional channels to engage with its audiences and customers. That was one of the conclusions drawn from the Edelman Trust Barometer 2011.
Introducing the 11th annual survey of trust levels in over 20 countries, Edelman Ireland Chief Executive Mark Cahalane said there was an onus on companies to use online channels. He noted that when asked where they would get trusted information about a company, 32% of “informed publics” in Ireland said online and 19% said the company’s own website.
Search engines
Globally, traditional media have the highest levels of trust when it comes to information about companies, with trust levels ranging from 33% for newspapers to 27% for radio. Online search engines were equally trusted, at 29%.
The barometer measures trust in four sectors – government, business, media and non-governmental organisations. Ireland’s level of trust in these is the lowest of the 23 countries covered, after dropping two places since 2009. Immediately above us are Russia, the UK and the US. Brazil, the UAE and the Netherlands have the highest levels of trust overall.
When asked to name their most relied on sources for company information, the Irish respondents’ top five were:
- Google (39%)
- The Irish Times (35%)
- RTÉ (26%)
- The Irish Independent (11%)
- The Financial Times (11%)
The news is not great for bloggers – only 11% globally and 8% in Ireland cite them as the most trusted sources of information about companies. However, they are highly trusted compared with banks – just 6% of us trust them.
Learn more in the Irish presentation of the Edelman Trust Barometer:
Or watch Richard Edelman introduce the findings:
Methodology: The Edelman Trust Barometer is based on interviews with 5,075 people in 23 countries, aged 25-64 and who are seen as “opinion elites” by Edelman.
