Police Popularity Rises On A Global Scale According to International GfK Study

NEW YORK, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.

Firefighters also rank in first place in the United States, with 93% regarding them as trustworthy, while the military enjoys the second highest level of popularity at 85%, followed by doctors at 82% and postal workers (81%). Police have particularly improved their reputation: this year, 77% of the population profess to trust them, whereas the figure was just 71% in the previous year. In contrast, civil servants have fallen in the rankings, with just 64% of citizens claiming to have confidence in them in 2010 compared to 70% in 2009, environment-protection organizations also saw a noticeable decrease (from 59% in 2009 to 54% in 2010). Since the beginning of the financial crisis in September 2008, bankers have seen a drop of 16 percentage points in terms of trust levels.  Internationally, but also in United States, politicians bring up the rear in the trust rankings, with 17% of Americans expressing respect for this professional group.

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 and the Czech Republic (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 (54%) 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 at the bottom of the rankings and their approval rating has fallen by another 3% compared with the previous year, to stand at just 15%. 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.

About GfK Custom Research North America

Headquartered in New York, GfK Custom Research North America is part of 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 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 more information visit www.gfkamerica.com. Follow us at www.gfkinsights4u.com or on Twitter @gfkamerica.

SOURCE GfK Custom Research North America