Media, business more trusted in India: Study

New Delhi, Oct 8: Edelman's first-ever quantitative study of stakeholder expectations of companies operating in India finds that media is the 'most trusted' institution with a top rating of 50 per cent, followed by business at 44 per cent.

The study, part of global public relations firm Edelman's annual Asia Pacific Stakleholder Study conducted by Harris Interactive Inc, looks at seven stakeholder groups across 10 Asia-Pacific markets.

Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are the least trusted institutions with equal ratings of just 32 per cent.

The study covered 140 opinion leaders across the country.

An interesting finding of the study is that Indian stakeholders turn to foreign mainstream media first as their most trusted media institution. Television reigns supreme in the media world, with 49 per cent of India's turning to TV first for trustworthy news and information, followed by newspapers, web-based media and radio, in that order, as trustworthy media information sources.

''The results highlight the imperative for business to shift from managing perceptions as drivers of trust and reputation to managing open, interactive and information-rich relationships as drivers of trust and influencers of business outcomes,'' said Edelman Asia Pacific President Alan VanderMolen.

According to the study, business in India enjoys a high degree of trust among both employees and investors. Employees give business a top rating of 75 per cent and investors give a rating of 70 per cent. Government on the other hand has the lowest trust in business in India with a top rating of just 20 per cent.

The regional respondents represented seven different stakeholder groups, including senior business executives, c-suite executive decision makers, institutional investors, government officials (mid-range officials or above, such as senior officers and senior executive officers), media representatives (senior business editors/reporters/journalists and producers), NGOs/trade associations, up-scale consumers and employees.

Edelman is one of the world's larindependent public relations firm, with 2,200 employees in 46 offices worldwide.

R&PM: Edelman is a part of the Eedelman network. As India's pre-eminent communications consultancy, it focuses on business outcomes, rather than just output.

UNI