Firefighters appreciably more popular
International GfK survey on the extent to which citizens trust various professional groups and organizations
Firefighters enjoy the highest levels of trust internationally. The clergy and marketing specialists have suffered a considerable deterioration in their reputation, and trust in politicians has also fallen once again. Conversely, the reputation of the police and judges has improved significantly. Bankers have also seen a slight recovery in their image at international level. These are the findings of the "GfK Trust Index 2010”, which has been conducted by GfK Custom Research in 19 countries.
Police enjoy greater trust internationally; clergy experience a decline in confidence levels
A total of 94% of all citizens in the countries surveyed have confidence in firefighters. The service enjoys the highest credibility in Sweden (98%) and the lowest in Romania (91%). Teachers and doctors come in second place, each at 84%, followed by postal workers (82%) and the military (81%). Although police officers remain in sixth place, the same position as last year, they have markedly improved their reputation: at 75%, 14% more citizens have confidence in them than in 2009. However, the service’s reputation varies considerably from country to country. In Germany and Italy (86% in each) and Sweden (83%) this professional group enjoys the highest levels of trust. Conversely, in France (59%), Bulgaria (55%) and Romania (53%) police officers have to fight for their credibility.
More than half of respondents in all surveyed countries have faith in environmental protection organizations, judges, charities, civil servants, the clergy and market research organizations. Following the abuse scandals in the Catholic church, which received international attention, the clergy’s image has deteriorated markedly in almost all countries. Just 58% of the population in total have confidence in the group, which is 8% less than in the prior year. The clergy is judged particularly poorly by the French, at 33%, whereas it achieves the best ratings in Romania (86%).
Politicians in last place
Over half of respondents expressed criticism of lawyers, bankers, trade unions, journalists, marketing specialists, managers, advertising experts and politicians.
As in previous years, politicians are bottom of the rankings and their approval rating has fallen by another 4% compared with the previous year, to stand at just 14%. Although political leaders are also in last place in the Netherlands, at 32% the level is still considerably higher than average. Politicians receive the second highest rating in Sweden, with 25%, whereas in Italy 93% of citizens do not trust their leaders, and only 7% do have faith in them. Similarly, this professional group fares badly in France and Hungary, with approval ratings of just 8% and 9% respectively.
Although the international financial market crisis is far from over, bankers have seen a revival in their reputation at international level. After just 37% of citizens professed to have confidence in them in the previous year, they are now trusted again by 42% of citizens. However, the results for individual countries vary considerably. Germans (57%), Swedes (56%) and Poles (54%) have the most faith in bank employees, while the profession is least popular in Italy (24%), France (27%) and Romania (28%). It is interesting to note that the trust values have fallen overall for both western and eastern Europe. However, no trend in either direction can be observed within these regions.
The survey
GfK Custom Research used the GfK Trust Index in spring 2010 to determine the levels of trust that citizens have in the following 20 professional groups and organizations: advertising specialists, bankers, civil servants, charities, clergy, doctors, environmental protection organizations, fire service, journalists, judges, lawyers, managers, marketing specialists, market researchers, military, police, politicians, postal workers, teachers and trade unions. For this year’s Trust Index, GfK Custom Research surveyed a total of 18,800 respondents in 15 European countries and the USA, Brazil, Colombia and India in February and March 2010. The survey has been conducted on an annual basis since 2003.
Further information: Mark Hofmans, GfK Custom Research,
tel: +32 2 475-2800, mark.hofmans@gfk.com
The GfK Group
The GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailers, services companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in the three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The No. 4 market research organization worldwide operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 10,000 staff. In 2009, the GfK Group’s sales amounted to EUR 1.16 billion. For further information, visit our website: www.gfk.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gfk_group.
Responsible under press legislation
GfK SE, Corporate Communications
Marion Eisenblätter
Nordwestring 101
90419 Nuremberg
Germany
Tel. +49 911 395-2645
Fax +49 911 395-4041
public.relations@gfk.com
