CEO credibility dropped 12 points across the globe to reach a record low of 37 percent, according to the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer.
The firm's 17th annual trust and credibility survey was done by research firm Edelman Intelligence and consisted of 25-minute online interviews conducted between Oct. 13 and Nov. 6 of 33,000 global respondents.
Here are five findings from the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer.
1. Of all leaders, government leaders are the least credible, with only 29 percent of respondents saying they believe these leaders are credible.
2. Employees are trusted by an average of 16 points more than CEOs on communication about employee/customer relations (53 percent), financial earnings (38 percent), crises (37 percent), innovation (33 percent), industry issues (32 percent) or programs addressing societal issues (30 percent).
3. The barometer found evidence of further dispersion of authority. Sixty percent of respondents believe members of the general public, academic and technical experts are equally credible sources of information about a company. Only 37 percent of respondents believe the CEO is the most credible source of information.
4. Distrust in general is intensified by the emergence of media echo chambers that reinforce personal beliefs while failing to acknowledge or de-legitimize opposing points of view. Most survey respondents (59 percent) favor search engines over human editors (41 percent) and are nearly four times more likely to ignore information that supports a position they do not believe in.
5. Less than half (43 percent) of respondents indicated trust in the media, reaching an all-time low in 17 countries. Similarly, only 41 percent of respondents said they trust their government, while respondents in half of the 28 countries surveyed said government is the least trusted institution.