As Edelman’s research institute and learning laboratory for trust, we publish data-driven insights around trust that inform leadership, strategy, policy and sustained action across institutions.
More Americans than last year say they are concerned about systemic racism and see little to no progress in addressing it. They expect business to play a central role in fighting for racial justice, but say companies are not living up to their commitments.
Publication
The Edelman Trust Institute’s latest publication, “Restoring Trust in a Fractured World,” gives insights on how we can build trust — in institutions and in one another — to minimize polarization and repair our social fabric. Matthew Bishop, former business editor of the Economist, curated and edited essays, and Rik Kirkland, former editor of Fortune and ETI Advisory Board Member, advised on this series of nine pieces penned by leaders from business, media and civil society.
SEE PUBLICATIONThe latest Trust Barometer Research
Expert views on the political, social and economic factors influencing trust in society
Podcast
Join The TrustMakers, where listeners connect with global experts to learn what it takes to build trust in today’s society.
Listen Now
Trust has become the foundational currency of stakeholder capitalism—yet the path for trust-building is changing faster than most leaders are able to adapt. Society has shifted expectations of what it takes to earn and restore trust.
Edelman began our investment in trust in 2000 with the launch of the Edelman Trust Barometer, because we believed trust and its impact on the world deserved to be studied and understood. The Trust Institute builds on 20+ years of global research across millions of stakeholders to drive enhanced, data-informed decision- making around the new imperative of trust.
Our mission is to provide leaders across institutions with a deeper understanding of the state of trust, and to equip those leaders with actionable insight about the changing dynamics of trust- building and erosion.
The Edelman Trust Institute partners with academic institutions, companies, foundations and other institutions to conduct research and apply advanced analytics to expand trust knowledge and extract new understanding. We explore the state of trust in institutions and brands to understand and document how social, political, and cultural changes are shaping trust and the expectation for institutions and leaders to act.
The Trust Barometer surveys more than 34,000 people in 28 countries annually. As of 2021, Edelman studies on trust have surveyed over 2 million respondents and gathered 23 million data points, researched and analyzed 87,000 employee reviews and more than 150 peer-reviewed academic articles, and conducted in-depth interviews with C-level business leaders around the world. Our cross-cultural insights on trust are widely cited in media outlets such as The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, and Forbes.
Edelman began its investment in trust because we believed trust and its impact on the world deserved to be studied and understood.
We conceived the Edelman Trust Barometer in 2000 as a direct response to the “Battle in Seattle,” when non-governmental organizations stormed the World Trade Organization to protest globalization as an unfair distribution of wealth. Edelman partnered with business and academic experts across disciplines to articulate the construct of trust and fielded a study polling opinion shapers in five countries on their trust in NGOs relative to media, government and business. In the two decades since, Edelman has studied the dynamic shifts in trust across institutions, governments, cultures, and geographies globally, substantiating that trust is essential to future success on a societal and on a company level.
Today, society is at an inflection point. Trust is now the foundational currency of stakeholder capitalism and increasingly a defining business metric for companies and brands. The Trust Institute’s research insights continue to drive the global conversation around our deeper understanding of trust and its linkage to success.
Currently, the Trust Institute is focused on examining the new pressures and expectations on business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of business as the most trusted institution today.
Edelman Trust Institute (ETI) is led by a team of senior Edelman leaders. Justin Blake, Edelman’s Global Executive Positioning Practice Chair, serves as Executive Director. Tonia Ries serves as Executive Director of Intellectual Property for the Edelman Trust Institute and oversees all Trust Barometer research studies. David Bersoff, ETI’s Head of Research, is the lead researcher on all of Edelman's trust-oriented thought leadership, including the Edelman Trust Barometer, and leads the Institute's research-based collaborations. In addition, ETI is guided by a core group of advisors that form our Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is comprised of experts from academia, business, policy, media and the NGO sector to shape ETI’s research, programming and editorial agenda. Project teams are led by ETI research directors and senior analysts, and include consultants from Edelman’s global network of industry, sector and strategic communications experts.
This diverse group of professors, authors and former journalists shape the Trust Institute’s research, programming and partnership agenda and participate in convenings with leaders across institutions. Advisory Board members are authorities on the intersection of business, media, policy and civil society.
Thank you for your interest in the Edelman Trust Institute.
Please fill out the form to submit inquiries about our work, our data, partnership opportunities, and other interests.