Irish have little trust in insurance companies - Survey

The findings of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual global survey of opinion formers, reveals the level of trust placed in insurance companies in Ireland is lower than in any other organisation.

In general terms business organisations are the most trusted institution in Ireland with 50% of opinion leaders trusting them to do the right thing.

The technology sector is the most trusted industry in the country as 72% of Irish opinion leaders expressed a positive attitude about it.

Only 35% of research participants placed trust in the insurance sector, as a result it is perceived to be the least trustworthy industry in Ireland.

In the run up to the general election, only 37% of Irish opinion leaders expressed faith in Government in general and the political process.

In the wake of numerous scandals, only 29% of research participants trust religious institutions.

Amnesty International and Greenpeace are the most trusted corporate brands in the country with 73% of respondents expressing their trust in these organisations.

Irish opinion formers trust Swedish companies and products the most with a 65% rating

In Ireland the least trusted companies by country of origin are Mexican companies at 21% and Russian companies at 20%.

Internationally the Dutch are most trusting of Irish companies at 73% followed by the Italians at 71%.

The least trusting of Irish companies in the international arena are Indian opinion leaders at 44%.

65% of Irish opinion leaders believed that global warming is the most important issue for companies to address

Managing director of Edelman Ireland Mark Cahalane said: “The importance of these findings is perhaps best highlighted by the actions respondents feel empowered to take when trust breaks down in a company or institution.

"This ranges from refusing to purchase goods, criticising the company or organisation to peers, refusing to invest in an individual company all the way to actively demonstrating against the organisation.

"Overall, the research suggests that there is a high level of mistrust in information generated internally about organisations, with the public placing a stronger emphasis on sourcing their own information to form a view or turning toward credible independent sources.”

A statement by Eldeman Ireland read: "The results are interesting from an international perspective because Ireland exhibits traits of developed and developing countries.

"For example, the developing world sees business playing a more trusted and vital role in society than any other institutions, whereas the developed world is more trusting of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

"63% of Irish opinion leaders said that global companies have a positive impact on society, whereas only 31% of opinion leaders from Germany expressed the same sentiment. At the same time, research participants from Ireland and Germany both have the same level of trust (73%) in Greenpeace."

The results also reveal that the technology industry is the most trusted of all business sectors in Ireland with 72% of Irish opinion leaders having a positive attitude about it.

The entertainment sector is the next most trusted at 58%. The retail and healthcare sectors are the third most trusted industries with 56% of opinion formers expressing their faith in each of the respective industries.

At the other end of the spectrum, the insurance industry is the least trusted with only 35% of the research participants having a positive attitude about the sector.

When looking at what is regarded as the most trusted source of business information, stock, industry or analyst’s reports stand at a high 57%, followed by TV reports at 54% and business magazines at 53%.

Given the comparative strength of local radio in Ireland, the ranking of local radio at 48% is perhaps surprising because Irish opinion leaders are more trusting of someone from their local community than anywhere else in the world.

In line with the overall findings, those surveyed, identified peers at a high of 49% as a trusted source of information. Interestingly newspaper articles stand at a trust rating of 37% compared to 48% for radio.

Perhaps from a business perspective, what is of concern is trust in companies own sources of information with press releases, annual reports and newsletters standing at 32%.

Blogs are trusted by 27% of Irish opinion leaders compared to a European average of 17% and US average of 16%. Perhaps, unsurprisingly given its partisan nature advertising was highlighted as the least trusted source of information at 21%.

Looking in detail at whom those surveyed trust as spokespersons, the most credible spokespersons are financial or industry analysts at 54%.

The research participants placed a high degree of trust in the leaders of their own organisations at 49%. Doctors and healthcare specialists also enjoy a rating of 45%.

At the other end of the spectrum, lawyers and PR executives are deemed untrustworthy with levels of trust standing at 30% and 21% respectively. The least trusted spokespersons are athletes and entertainers at 12%.

Mark Cahalane said: “Clearly recent scandals have impacted on business, political and religious institutions’ standing in society. The clear message coming from the research is organisations need to become more socially conscious, proactively interact with their employees and set high standards of customer service.”