Trust in Crisis: What the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Means for Marketers

Does anyone trust anyone anymore?

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer paints a picture of a world where grievance is rising, trust is fragile, and optimism for the future is at an all-time low. As marketers and communications professionals, this has profound implications for how we engage with audiences, build brand reputation, and navigate an increasingly polarised landscape.

So, what does this mean for us, and how should we adapt our strategies?

Trust is a Brand’s Most Valuable Asset

The 2025 Edelman Trust Index shows that trust in institutions is stagnating or declining, with business (62%) remaining the most trusted, followed by NGOs (58%), government (52%), and media (52%). However, trust remains fragile, and the report highlights that many consumers believe business leaders, government officials, and journalists intentionally mislead the public. This deep scepticism means that brands face heightened scrutiny, and any misstep can erode hard-won credibility.

So should we just give up and go into hibernation? No.

Instead we need to make sure that our work doubles down on transparency and credibility. We need to challenge ourselves to make sure that every campaign, message, and engagement we lead is honest and authentic. We also need to help our stakeholders understand that trust is hard to win but easy to lose, and that every interaction matters.

Specific ways we can do this include:

• Invest in fact-based storytelling

• Avoid any kind of exaggeration - ask for the data for any claims made in messaging

• Use real voices—employees, customers, and independent experts—to build authenticity

• Proactively address misinformation and disinformation in a professional and customer-focused way (hint: a social media rant isn't the answer!).

  

  
  

Economic Anxiety is Driving Consumer Behaviour

The second thing we can learn is that the gap in trust between high-income and low-income populations is widening. The report shows that low-income respondents are significantly less trusting of institutions, and this trust gap is as high as 24 percentage points in some countries.

Additionally, people are becoming increasingly worried about job security, with major concerns about automation, offshoring, and globalisation impacting livelihoods. Consumers are more financially cautious and increasingly expect businesses to offer real economic value not just compelling marketing.

This means that consumers are making purchase decisions based on economic realities, not just brand loyalty. So value-driven messaging, affordability, and solutions-oriented communication will resonate more than ever.

Specific tactics you can try:

• Talk about the wider benefits of your products and/or working with your company, and make these relevant to consumers (which, to be honest, we should all be doing anyway)

• Know your audience - and if relevant address any financial concerns they have in a transparent and ethical way.

Brands are Expected to Lead on Social Issues, But With Purpose

I think this is a very tricky area for businesses to strike the correct balance, but the report confirms that consumers increasingly expect businesses to engage in societal issues, but they also demand meaningful action rather than surface-level activism.

Hostile activism is on the rise, with 40% of people approving of aggressive tactics like online attacks and disinformation to drive change. This means that brands talking about social issues should be prepared for a backlash from parts of the wider public and ensure their initiatives are deeply aligned with their values and actions.

If companies choose to align with a cause, audiences now expect it to be strategic, relevant, and backed by action. Consumers now want evidence to back up words.

Navigate this by:

• Advocating that your business aligns with issues that are authentic to your brand’s mission

• Ask "why are we doing this?" - if you can't articulately explain (or your explanation is "to make money") then rethink

• Make sure that, if your business wants to take a stance, your spokespeople can talk in an informed and detailed way about the issues. This prevents car crash interviews when your team is caught unprepared

• Ask "can we prove our stance will result in positive action?" - think about your objectives and how you'll measure performance against them

• Take action first, gather evidence on what you've done, then talk about it publicly. Many companies are falling into the trap of excitedly launching an initiative and then not having any results to show for it later, resulting in negative publicity

• Be prepared for scrutiny, and perhaps even pushback. This isn't something to be scared of, but it is something to be ready for in advance.

  
  

  
  

There's one overarching theme that I keep coming back to when reading the report and it's this: We continue to have two critical responsibilities in our roles as marketers and communicators.

1. Know your audiences inside out

2. Educate your colleagues, particularly those in the public eye, about how to protect your organisation's reputation.

If we stay focused on these, we'll be ok.