Report: Government officials, CEOs least credible spokespeople

The annual Edelman Trust Barometer was released on Monday, revealing which institutions and people the public puts the most trust. (Spoiler Alert: The government did terribly.)

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

Let’s hope it’s not a government official or CEO. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, they are the least credible spokespeople in the eyes of the public.

As part of the annual study, respondents were asked: If you heard information about a company from one of these people, how credible would that information be?

The answers:

68 percent said academic or expert (compared with 70 percent last year)
66 percent said technical expert in the company (compared with 64 percent last year)
65 percent: a person like yourself (43 percent last year)
50 percent: regular employee (34 percent last year)
50 percent: NGO representative (47 percent last year)
46 percent: Financial or industry analyst (53 percent last year)
38 percent: CEO (50 percent last year)
29 percent: Government official or regular (43 percent last year)

The 14 percent drop in credibility for government official is the steepest fall the Trust Barometer has ever recorded.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.