Indians have highest trust in government among 21 countries: Ipsos survey

According to the survey, conducted over 15 days in August-September last year, urban Indians displayed more trust than distrust across all the 11 institutions and organisations. Trust in the Indian government emerged as the highest, at 52%, among all markets. Meanwhile, technology companies (57%), energy (57%), and banking organizations (57%) were the most trusted organizations among urban Indians.

The survey also highlighted a trust deficit for certain sectors among global citizens, particularly in government, social media companies, oil and gas companies.

“Netizens trust technology companies most, followed by organizations and institutions in energy, banking, retail, financial services, pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods, govt, oil and gas. Most of these organisations work within a regulated market framework with conformance to laws and guidelines. Institutions are built on a bed rock of values, ethics, and culture, which build their ethos,” said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

For urban Indians, the key barometers of trust for an organisation included transparency about its operations (33%), sustainability (33%), responsible behaviour (29%), among others. For global citizens, the most overriding factor was reliability (36%), transparency about its operations (35%), and responsible behaviour (31%), the survey showed.

“There is a huge emphasis on ethics and a greater sense of expectation from corporates in giving back to society. Sustainability is emerging as a strong area, in reducing adverse impact on the environment, from the citizens’ stand point,” Adarkar added.