公衆對機構信任度創危機後新低

Global public confidence in institutions has evaporated in the last year, taking trust levels back to lows not seen since the financial crisis in 2009, according to research to be presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.

根據一份將於本週在達沃斯(Davos)世界經濟論壇(World Economic Forum)上展示的研究報告，去年全球公衆對各機構的信心不再，導致人們的信任水平跌至2009年金融危機爆發以來從未出現過的低點。

“Unimaginable events” from the Ebola crisis to the disappearance of a Malaysian airliner, Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, the forex rate-rigging scandal and the high-profile hacks of Sony Pictures and celebrity photos on Apple’s iCloud have created a “sense that things are out of control,” said Richard Edelman, chief executive of the world’s largest public relations consultancy by revenues, which publishes the annual Edelman Trust Barometer.

全球營收最高的公共關係諮詢機構愛德曼(Edelman)每年都會發布愛德曼信任度調查報告(Edelman Trust Barometer)。該公司首席執行官理查德•愛德曼(Richard Edelman)表示，從埃博拉病毒危機，到馬航客機的失聯、俄羅斯對烏克蘭的干預、外匯利率操縱醜聞、備受關注的索尼影視(Sony Pictures)遭遇黑客攻擊事件、以及蘋果公司(Apple)iCloud豔照門事件，種種“難以想象的事件”讓人產生了一種“諸多事情處於失控狀態的感覺”。

The rapid pace of innovation across industries has also left many people feeling unsettled, depressing confidence in both business’s and government’s ability to manage change.

各產業快速的創新節奏也讓許多人產生不安定感，並抑制了他們對企業和政府應對變化能力的信心。

“All this has had a negative effect on trust in institutions. We’ve given back all the gains of the last five years,” he said.

他說：“所有這些都對人們對機構的信任產生了負面影響。過去五年裏增加的所有信任度都被一掃而空。”

For the first time, nearly two-thirds of the 27 nations surveyed fell on the “distrustful” end of Edelman’s index, gauging respondents’ trust in government, business, media and non-governmental organisations.

在被調查的27個國家裏，首次有近三分之二的國家落在了愛德曼指數的“不信任”區間。所謂愛德曼指數，是用來衡量回應者對政府、企業、媒體和非政府組織(NGO)信任程度的指標。

Among the informed public segment of the 33,000-person survey — a group of 700 wealthy, well-educated, well-informed individuals — 57 per cent said they trusted business, down from 59 per cent last year.

這一調查有3.3萬人參加。其中，在由700名富有、受過良好教育、文化水平很高的個人組成的一個高知公衆羣體中，57%的人表示他們信任企業，低於去年的59%。

In half of the countries surveyed, trust in business dipped below 50 per cent, the worst reading since 2008. Canada, Germany, Australia and Argentina saw the biggest declines, with the percentage of those trusting in business dropping more than 10 points. In the US, however, trust rose from 58 to 60 per cent.

在半數被調查國家中，對企業的信任比例跌至50%以下，這是2008年以來的最低讀數。其中，加拿大、德國、澳大利亞和阿根廷的跌幅最大，信任企業的人比例減少了逾10個百分點。不過在美國，人們對企業的信任比例卻從58%升至60%。

Trust in government rose overall from 45 per cent to 48 per cent but after stripping out large jumps in India and Indonesia, which held national elections in 2014, government trust dipped to 44 per cent. The sharpest falls came in South Korea, where trust dropped from 45 per cent to 33 per cent, and Malaysia, down to 45 per cent from 54 per cent. In Russia, in contrast, trust doubled from 27 per cent to 54 per cent.

對政府的總體信任比例則從45%升至48%。不過，在刨除了印度和印尼的大幅度增長之後，對政府的信任則降至44%。此前，印度和印尼兩國都在2014年舉行了大選。對政府的信任比例中，跌幅最大的是韓國和馬來西亞。韓國該比例從45%跌至33%，馬來西亞則從54%跌至45%。相比之下，俄羅斯的情況正相反，該國信任政府的比例翻了一番，從27%升至54%。

Trust in media dipped from 53 per cent to 51 per cent, with the lowest levels recorded in Turkey, Japan, Ireland, Sweden and the UK.

對媒體的信任比例從53%跌至51%。其中，比例最低的是土耳其、日本、冰島、瑞典和英國。

Even NGOs, which had weathered the turbulence of the financial crisis and recovery, saw their first drop, to 63 per cent from 66 per cent last year. Trust fell most in the UK, down to 51 per cent from 67 per cent; Hong Kong, to 63 per cent from 77 per cent, and China, to 72 per cent from 84 per cent.

儘管平安度過了金融危機及其後復甦階段的種種紛擾，非政府組織也首次遭遇了信任度下跌。對非政府組織的信任比例從去年的66%跌至63%。其中，對它們的信任比例下跌最快的是英國、香港和中國內地。英國信任非政府組織的比例從67%下跌至51%，香港則從77%下跌至63%，而中國內地則從84%下跌至72%。

Mr Edelman pointed to unhappiness with NGOs’ ability to pushing change in China and in tackling energy issues, such as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, in the UK.

愛德曼指出，人們對非政府組織在中國內地不能推動變革、在英國不能解決“水力壓裂法”等能源問題十分不滿。

The rise of new technologies, including fracking, has emerged as a fresh factor weighing on public confidence.

包括水力壓裂等新技術的崛起，已成爲爲公衆信心帶來壓力的新因素。

“Innovation should be a trust accelerator, but it is actually a trust anchor,” Mr Edelman said. “It is seen as unregulated, good for companies and individuals but not for society.”

愛德曼表示：“創新原本應該促進人們的信任，實際上卻阻礙了人們的信任。人們認爲，創新不受監管，儘管它對企業和個人很有好處，卻無益於社會。”

Fifty-one per cent of those surveyed said the pace of development and change in business was too fast, versus 28 per cent who found it too slow and 19 per cent judging it just right.

51%的被調查者表示商業的發展和變革節奏太快，認爲它太慢的只有28%，而認爲它正合適的則只有19%。

Genetically modified foods and hydraulic fracturing were least trusted, at 32 per cent and 47 per cent, while confidence was higher in electronic and mobile payments (69 per cent) and personal health tracking (59 per cent.)

轉基因食品和水力壓裂法是最不受信任的技術，信任這兩樣技術的比例分別爲32%和47%。相比之下，人們對電子設備和移動支付的信任程度更高，信任比例爲69%。還有就是個人健康跟蹤技術也較受信任，信任比例爲59%。

Respondents favoured tighter regulation of innovations, but only half said they trusted policy makers to do that effectively.

迴應者更傾向於加強對技術創新的監管。不過，只有半數的人表示，他們相信政策制定者能有效監管技術創新。

Trust in innovation correlated with overall trust in institutions, with countries such as the UAE, India and Indonesia expressing higher confidence in both, and Germany, Japan and Sweden being more distrustful.

對技術創新的信任程度與對機構的總體信任程度有相關性。在阿聯酋(UAE)、印度和印尼等國家，人們對兩者的信心相對較高。而在德國、日本和瑞典，人們對兩者的信任程度較低。