Los Angeles is known for its year-round sunshine. However, according to the Southern California data from the Edelman Trust Barometer, provided to the Business Journal on Wednesday by public relations firm Edelman Los Angeles, Angelenos don’t have a particularly sunny disposition when it comes to their trust in local and federal government, the tech sector, cost of living and the outlook for California’s economy.
“The genesis of the Edelman Trust Barometer, now in its 16th year, was the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 in Seattle,” said chief executive and president Richard Edelman. “The volatile reaction (to the meeting) inspired us to measure trust in public institutions, and it’s been quite a journey, through the dot-com implosion, the rise of NGOs as most credible institutions, the growing influence of peers and declining influence of traditional authority figures, the Great Recession, and the fear of pace of innovation.”
According to Jonathan Wibberley, head of the west coast for Edelman Berland, who conducted the survey, Southern California data was attained through 523 interviews with Californians age 18 and older in the Los Angeles region.
Even with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent under consideration, Angelenos on average are less trusting than the world across a wide variety of institutions, and even less trusting than the rest of the United States. For example, 53 percent of the world population trusts business, compared to 51 percent in the United States, and 47 percent in Southern California.
The findings for trust in government, the media and non-government organizations fall into a similar pattern, with Los Angeles residents’ trust threshold falling five to 10 percentage points below the world, and several points behind the rest of the United States.
When local residents were asked about which problems were most likely to hold back California’s economy and hamper growth, 28 percent cited housing costs, by 2-to-1 over the next threat, the current drought at 14 percent.
As cost of living is clearly viewed as a threat to a successful California, residents are finding it harder to keep up. More than 77 percent place themselves on the bottom of the economic spectrum, with 24 percent describing themselves as lower income and 53 percent as lower middle class. Therefore, it is no surprise that 63 percent of area residents say it is now harder to get ahead than it was five years ago.
Although much of the survey shows Los Angeles is not the feel-good city people living outside California may perceive it to be, Angelenos believe their local businesses are capable of being a part of the solution with issues facing the state.
For example 70 percent agree that businesses can both increase profits and improve the conditions in the communities in which they operate, while just 10 percent disagree with that idea. Additionally, 65 percent of those surveyed argue that businesses owe it to the public to contribute more to solving our local problems.
“This year’s results showed an accelerating trust inequality between the informed, better-educated, higher-income respondents and the mass population,” said Edelman.
“Despite the general population’s skepticism, the business community has the best chance of bridging this trust gap. Our data shows the general population sees business as best able to keep pace with rapid change, coming ahead of government and even higher than NGOs.”
Edelman added that the survey results underscore businesses must now lead differently, with the support of their employees and passionate customers. They should also move away from a narrow focus on their enterprise and short-term performance to take action, demonstrate their values, engage their employees, communicate more broadly and show that business can be a force for good.
