2016 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER revealed trust in all four institutions has reached its highest level since the Great Recession, with business receiving the largest increase in trust among both the informed public and the larger general population. The global rebound of trust has failed to take root in Hong Kong. Following years of declines, taking Hong Kong from the fifth to seventeenth most trusting nation surveyed, this year’s results indicate an ongoing sense of uncertainty about the future of the SAR’s institutions. This year’s lecture will include a deep analysis of trust in CEOs and roadmap for CEOs to address the trust gap in Hong Kong, with sentiment towards business leaders here failing to match the improvements recorded globally.

1. Hong Kong
2016 Edelman
Trust Barometer

2. Informed Public
‣ 8 years in 20+ markets
‣ Represents 15% of total global population
‣ 500 respondents in U.S. and China; 200 in all other countries
Must meet 4 criteria:
‣ Ages 25-64
‣ College educated
‣ In top 25% of household income per age group in each country
‣ Report significant media consumption and engagement in business news
General Online Population
‣ 5 years in 25+ markets
‣ Ages 18+
‣ 1,150 respondents per country
Methodology
28-country global data margin of error: General Population +/-0.6% (N=32,200), Informed Public +/- 1.2% (N=6,200), Mass Population +/- 0.6% (26,000). Country-
specific data margin of error: General Population +/- 2.9 ( N=1,150), Informed Public +/- 6.9% (N = min 200, varies by country), China and U.S. +/- 4.4% (N=500),
Mass Population +/- 3.0 to 3.6 (N =min 740, varies by country), half sample Global General Online Population +/- 0.8 (N=16,100).
‣ 16 years of data
‣ 33,000+ respondents total
‣ All fieldwork was conducted between
October 13th and November 16th, 2015
Online Survey in 28 Countries
Mass Population
‣ All population not including Informed Public
‣ Represents 85% of total global population
2

3. 49 Ireland
47 Turkey
46 Sweden
42 Poland
42 Russia
41 Japan
49 Australia
49 Italy
49 U.S.
47 Hong Kong
46 Spain
45 S. Africa
42 Germany
42 S. Korea
42 U.K.
41 France
41 Ireland
41 Turkey
39 Russia
38 Japan
37 Sweden
35 Poland
73 China
66 UAE
65 India
64 Singapore
62 Indonesia
60 Mexico
82 China
78 India
74 UAE
72 Mexico
72 Singapore
70 Indonesia
64 U.S.
63 Australia
63 Canada
62 Netherlands
61 Colombia
56 Canada
55 Colombia
52 Netherlands
51 Argentina
51 Malaysia
50 Brazil58 Brazil
58 Italy
58 Malaysia
57 U.K.
55 France
54 S. Africa
53 Argentina
53 Spain
52 Hong Kong
51 Germany
50 S. Korea
Average trust in institutions,
Informed Public vs.
General Population, 2016
Nearly 6 in 10
countries are
distrusters among the
General Population
The Trust Index is an average of a country’s trust in the
institutions of government, business, media and NGOs.
28-country global total.
Informed
Public
General
Population
60 Global 50 Global
3
Trusters
Neutrals
Distrusters
Trust Index

4. 51
48
45
41
55 53
47
42
63
57
51
48
67 63
57
51
Globally, trust rising
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q11-14. Below is a list of institutions. For each one, please indicate how much you Trust that institution to do what is right
using a nine-point scale, where one means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal.” (Top 4 Box, Trust) Informed
Public and General Population, 27-country global total.
4
Percent Trust in the four institutions of
government, business, media and NGOs, 2015 vs. 2016
NGOs Business Media Government
+4 +6 +6 +3
Informed
Public
General
Population
2015 2016
+4 +5 +2 +1

5. Institutions
NGOs
Media
Government
Business
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q11-14. Below is a list of institutions. For each one, please indicate how much you Trust that institution to do what is right
using a nine-point scale, where one means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal.” (Top 4 Box, Trust) Informed
Public and General Population, Hong Kong.
5
Percent trust in the four institutions of
government, business, media and NGOs, 2012 vs. 2016
Trust in Hong Kong fails to recover
61
63 64
57 57
54
55 55
50
47
42
43
41
38
39
55
53
42
44
45
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
General
Population

6. Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q11-14. Below is a list of institutions. For each one, please indicate how much you Trust that institution to do what is right
using a nine-point scale, where one means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal.” (Top 4 Box, Trust) Informed
Public and General Population, Hong Kong, Singapore and UAE.
6
Percent trust in business, 2012 vs. 2016
Business trust in Hong Kong falling behind
General
Population
55
53
42
44
45
59
60 60
57
60
54
63
62
65
67
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Business
Hong Kong
Singapore
United Arab Emirates

7. Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q11-14. Below is a list of institutions. For each one, please indicate how much you Trust that institution to do what is right
using a nine-point scale, where one means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal.” (Top 4 Box, Trust) Informed
Public and General Population, Hong Kong, Singapore and UAE.
7
Percent trust in government, 2012 vs. 2016
And trust in government also behind
General
Population
55
53
42
44 45
71
72 73
68
74
69
75
78
83
80
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Government
Hong Kong
Singapore
United Arab Emirates

8. 8
Skepticism across the generations
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q11-14. Below is a list of institutions. For each one, please indicate how much you Trust that institution to do what is right
using a nine-point scale, where one means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal.” (Top 4 Box, Trust) Age
breakdown (18-34, 35-54, 55+), General Population, Hong Kong.
Percent trust per age group in the four institutions of
government, business, media and NGOs
Business MediaNGOs Government
60%
35%
45%
35%
55%
39%
49%
44%
58%
45% 47%
59%
General
Population
35 - 54
18 - 34
55 +

9. 50%
55
46
19 21
28
48
41
45
42
47
44
57
46
50
46
63
52
49
58 55 55
51
69
62 64
73 73
79 81
87
47
37
15
20
24
31 31 33 33 34 34
36 36 37
39
45 46 47 49 49 49
57
64 64 65
69 70
74
81 83
Global
GDP5
Japan
France
Germany
U.K.
Australia
Italy
S.Korea
Netherlands
Sweden
Poland
HongKong
Canada
Russia
U.S.
Singapore
Turkey
Ireland
S.Africa
Spain
Malaysia
Mexico
Argentina
Brazil
China
UAE
Indonesia
Colombia
India
In 19 of 28 countries, less than half of Mass Population
think they will be better off in five years
Mass population less optimistic
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q445. Thinking about the economic prospects for yourself and your family, how do you think you and your family will be doing
in five years' time? (Top 2 Box, ‘Much better off than today,’ and ‘Somewhat better off than today.’) Informed Public and Mass Population, 28-country global total.
GDP 5 = U.S., China, Japan, Germany, U.K.
9
Percent of the Informed Public vs. Mass Population who
believe they and their families will be better off in five years’ time Informed
Public
Mass
Population
17 10 12 13 10 21 10 13 18 6 3

10. 1
Trust in
business
• Industry sector
• Enterprise type
• Country of origin
• Leadership

11. 11
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
Trust declines in all sectors
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q45-429. Please indicate how much you Trust businesses in each of the following industries to do what is right. Again, please use the same 9-point scale where one
means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal”. (Top 4 Box, Trust) General Population, Hong Kong.
*From 2012-2014, Pharma included as subsector(Q61f-65f).
**From 2012-2015, Pharma included as an industry sector (Q43-60). 2012-2014 data recalibrated as a sector.
Trust in each industry sector, 2012 - 2016
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Industry 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
5 yr.
Trend
Technology 78% 76% 79% 75% 69% 9
Food & Beverage 68% 69% 70% 64% 59% 9
Energy 68% 69% 68% 62% 59% 9
Automotive 66% 70% 74% 69% 58% 8
Telecommunications 64% 69% 69% 64% 58% 6
Consumer Packaged Goods 65% 68% 68% 62% 56% 9
Pharmaceutical 67% 69% 69% 66% 55% 12
Financial Services 57% 59% 62% 61% 54% 3
General
Population

12. 12
Business must lead to solve problems
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q249. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statement? (Top 4 Box, Agree). General
Population, Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample.
62% agree
“A company can take
specific actions that both
increase profits and
improve the economic
and social conditions in
the community where it
operates.”
General
Population

13. 13
Access to education/training
Address income inequality
Access to healthcare
Protecting/improving the environment
Reducing poverty
Supporting human & civil rights
Modern infrastructure
E
E
P
H
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q561-573 Thinking about businesses in your country, how important is it that they play a role in solving each of the following societal issues?
Please use a nine-point scale where one means that it is “not at all important” and nine means that it is “extremely important”. (Top 4 Box, Importance) General Population, 28-country
global total, question asked of one quarter the sample.
Societal
expectations
vary
Most important issue for
business to address in
each country
Canada
Brazil
Germany
France
China
U.S.
Poland
Argentina
Sweden
Mexico
U.K.
Ireland
Netherlands
Turkey
Singapore
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Colombia
Japan
Australia
Russia
S. Korea
Italy
Spain
Indonesia
UAE
S. Africa
India
General
Population
R
I
I
E
E
R
H
E
E
E
E
E
P
P
E
H
P
E
H
H
H
E
E
E
E
E
P
I
H
E
I
E

14. 14
Importance Performance Gap
Integrity 37% 18% 19
Engagement 36% 18% 18
Products 32% 18% 14
Purpose 27% 16% 11
Operations 22% 15% 7
Trust-building attributes for business
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust
Barometer Q80-95 How important is
each of the following attributes to
building your TRUST in a company?
Use a 9-point scale where one means
that attribute is “not at all important to
building your Trust” and nine means it
is “extremely important to building
your Trust” in a company. (Top 2 Box,
Importance) Q114-129 Please rate
businesses in general on how well
you think they are performing on each
of the following attributes. Use a 9-
point scale where one means they are
"performing extremely poorly" and
nine means they are "performing
extremely well". (Top 2 Box,
Performance) General Population,
Hong Kong.
Company importance vs. business performance
General
Population
Has Ethical Business Practices 39% 18% 21
Takes Responsible Actions To Address An Issue Or A Crisis 37% 18% 19
Has Transparent And Open Business Practices 36% 17% 19
Treats Employees Well 39% 19% 20
Listens To Customer Needs And Feedback 36% 18% 18
Places Customers Ahead Of Profits 36% 17% 19
Communicates Frequently And Honestly On The State Of Its Business 34% 18% 16
Offers High Quality Products Or Services 42% 20% 22
Is An Innovator Of New Products, Services Or Ideas 23% 17% 6
Works To Protect And Improve The Environment 31% 17% 14
Creates Programs That Positively Impact The Local Community 24% 16% 8
Addresses Society's Needs In Its Everyday Business 28% 18% 10
Partners With NGOs, Government And Third Parties To Address Societal Issues 26% 15% 11
Has Highly-Regarded And Widely Admired Top Leadership 20% 14% 6
Ranks On A Global List Of Top Companies, Such As Best To Work For Or Most Admired 21% 14% 7
Delivers Consistent Financial Returns To Investors 24% 17% 7

15. 15
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust
Barometer Q80-95 How
important is each of the following
attributes to building your
TRUST in a company? Use a 9-
point scale where one means
that attribute is “not at all
important to building your Trust”
and nine means it is “extremely
important to building your Trust”
in a company. (Top 2 Box,
Importance) Q114-129 Please
rate businesses in general on
how well you think they are
performing on each of the
following attributes. Use a 9-
point scale where one means
they are "performing extremely
poorly" and nine means they are
"performing extremely well". (Top
2 Box, Performance) General
Population, Asia Pacific.
APAC trust
priorities
aligning
Most important attributes
for business to build
Trust in Asia Pacific
countries
General
Population
16

16. 2
Leadership as a
catalyst for change

17. 17
Addressing trust in leadership
Actions
Values
Employee
Advocacy
Engagement
TRUST

18. 18
Actions
Leadership as a catalyst for change

19. 19
Leader focus misplaced
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q451-461. Thinking about CEOs, how strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements? [‘CEOs do too much lobbying,’ ‘Given that the
average tenure of CEOs is just 4 years, CEOs aren’t in their role long enough to make a positive impact,’ (Top 4 Box, Agree) ‘CEOs are too focused on short-term financial results,’ ‘CEOs can
be Trust to create jobs’ ] (Bot 5 Box, Do not agree) General Population, Hong Kong.
Percent who agree with each statement about CEOs
General
Population
Focus on short-term
financial results
Lobbying
Too Much
59%
48%
Positive
long-term impact
Job creation
Not Enough
50%
54%

20. 20
Purpose and profits matter
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q496-506. How visible do you think a CEO should personally be in these different types of business situations? Please
use a 9-point scale where one means that it is “not visible at all” and nine means that it is “extremely visible”. (Top 4 Box, Visible) General Population, Hong Kong,
question asked of half the sample.
Percent who agree that CEOs should be personally visible in discussing…
56%
Societal
Issues
‣ Income inequality
‣ Public policy discussions
‣ Personal views on
societal issues
54%
Financial
Results
General
Population

21. 21
Lack of purpose impacts trust
Percent who cite each as a reason for why their trust in business has decreased
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q328-329. For which of the following reasons, if any, has your Trust in each institution listed below increased over the past year? Q330-331. For which
of the following reasons, if any, has your Trust in each institution listed below decreased over the past year? General Population, Hong Kong.
Reasons trust in business has decreased
General
Population
40%
43%
62%Fails to contribute to the greater good
Provides few public services
Does not help me and my family live a fulfilling life

22. 22
Values
Leadership as a catalyst for change

23. 23
Desired leadership qualities
Characteristics that make a CEO trustworthy, percent who
selected each as one of the top 5, Hong Kong vs. APAC
General
Population
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q515. Which of the following personal characteristics make a CEO Trustworthy? Please select the 5 most important
characteristics that make a CEO Trustworthy. General Population, Hong Kong and Asia Pacific.
25%
17%
31%
26%
35%
28%
31%
36%
44%
46%
Visionary
Competent
Decisive
Authentic
Experienced
Asia Pacific
Hong Kong

24. 24
60%
68%
72%75%
Their education and
how it shaped them
Their personal
success story
The obstacles
they have overcome
Their personal values
Personal values and history matter
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q507-514. Thinking about how a CEO communicates with a variety of groups and individuals, how important are each of the following activities a CEO could engage in?
Please use a 9-point scale where one means that attribute is “not at all important to building your Trust” and nine means it is “extremely important to building your Trust”. (Top 4 Box, Important) General Population,
28-country global total, question asked of half the sample. [Media Engagement net = Q507 ‘Interviews with the media,’ and ‘Q512 ‘Sharing their views on a blog or on social media.’ Direct Engagement net = Q508
‘Communications with employees,’ and ‘Participation in industry conferences.’] Q516-524. For you to Trust a CEO, how important is it that you have information on each of the following aspects of the CEO’s
personal life outside of their business? Please use a 9-point scale where one means that attribute is “not at all important to building your Trust” and nine means it is “extremely important to building your Trust. (Top 4
Box, Important) General Population, Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample.
Percent who agree that each type of information
is important in building trust in a CEO
General
Population

25. 25
Employee
Advocacy
Leadership as a catalyst for change

26. 26
50%
65
60
40
48 48 50
54 55 56
57 58 59 60 62 62 63 64 64 64
72 73 76 76 77 77 78 79
83 85
89
Global
GDP5
Japan
Russia
France
Sweden
Australia
S.Korea
Poland
UK
Italy
HongKong
Ireland
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
Turkey
Canada
U.S.
S.Africa
Singapore
Malaysia
UAE
Indonesia
Brazil
Argentina
China
India
Colombia
Mexico
Significant employee lack of trust
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q525-526. Thinking about your own company and other companies in your industry, please indicate how much you Trust
each to do what is right using a 9-point scale where one means that you “do not Trust them at all” and nine means that you “Trust them a great deal”. (Top 4 Box,
Trust) General Population, 28-country global total.
GDP 5 = U.S., China, Japan, Germany, U.K.
Percent who trust the company for which they work
TrustedDistrusted
7 in 10 Agree
employees are credible
spokespeople
General
Population

27. 27
Company NOT
engaged in
societal issues
Company
engaged in
societal issues
Companies with CEOs addressing
societal issues do better
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q527-529. Does your company and your company’s CEO get involved in addressing broader societal issues beyond the
core business, through programs or relationships with other companies? Thinking about your current company, please indicate how much you agree with each of
the following statements using a 9-point scale where one means that you “strongly disagree” and nine means that you “strongly agree”. (Top 4 Box, Agree) General
Population, Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample.
General
Population
Impact of
Company
Engagement
19
30
21
20
34
26
2276
79
79
79
81
81
89Do the best possible job for the customer
Recommend products and services to others
Committed to achieving our strategy
Motivated to perform
Confidence in the future of the company
Stay working for the company
Recommend company as an employer
54
53
45
59
60
51
70

28. 28
Engagement
Leadership as a catalyst for change

29. 29
76
67
71
56
55
59
60 60 60
53
59
56
57
51
43
47 47
50
51
41
46
45
47
44
35
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Transformed media landscape
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q178-182. When looking for general news and information, how much would you Trust each type of source for general
news and information? Please use a nine-point scale where one means that you “do not Trust it at all” and nine means that you “Trust it a great deal.” (Top 4 Box,
Trust) General Population, Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample.
Trust in each source for general news and information
*From 2012-2015, we included Online Search Engines as a media type. In 2016, we changed to Search Engines.
**From 2012-2015, we included Hybrid as a media type. In 2016, we changed this over to Online-Only.
Owned media
Globally, owned
media is 46% and
rising (+3 points)
year on year for 2
years, surpassing
social media.
General
Population
Media type
Traditional Media
Search Engines*
Online-only Media**
Social media
Owned media

30. 55
60 60
57
45
43 42
40
44
64
60
58 58
49
46
41 40
38
Peers, experts more credible than leaders
Source: 2016 Edelman. Trust Barometer Q130-587. Below is a list of people. In general, when forming an opinion of a company, if you heard information about a
company from each person, how credible would the information be—extremely credible, very credible, somewhat credible, or not credible at all? (Top 2 Box,
Very/Extremely Credible) General Population, Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample.
30
Percent who rate each spokesperson as extremely/very credible
2015 2016
+3+9
Technical
Expert
Academic
Expert
A person
like
yourself
Financial
Industry
Analyst
CEONGO
representative
Board of
Directors
Government
official/regul
ator
A person like yourself
credibility
increased the most
General
Population
Employee
most trusted
content creators:#1
Friends and
Family

31. 3
Implications of
Trust

32. 32
Influence
The inversion of
influence
Influence
& Authority
Authority
Old Model
‣ Informed public have
access
to more/better
information
‣ Top-down influence
through a set number of
channels
New Reality
‣ Peer-to-peer influence
more powerful than top-
down
‣ Increasing lack of trust
among population,
characterized by
significantly lower
optimism about the
future
The Gap
‣ Democratization of
information access
‣ Discrepancy in
communications leaders
who haven’t adapted to
this new reality

33. 33
Embracing the new reality
of influence to
address the trust gap
‣ Create societal impact in addition to profits
through purposeful action
‣ Express your values through ethical
engagement in which you share your story
‣ Ignite your most powerful advocate, your
employees
‣ Engage cross channel to meet stakeholders,
where they are, about what most
interests/concerns them
Actions
Values
Employee
Advocacy
Engagement
Influence
AuthorityLeadership
TRUST

34. 34
60
41
39
32
30
20
51
47
18
22
24
27
Trust matters
Source: 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer Q371-589. Thinking back over the past 12 months, have you taken any of the following actions in relation to companies
that you Trust? Please answer yes or no to each action. General Population, Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample. Q377-380. Still thinking about the past
12 months, have you taken any of the following actions in relation to companies that you do not Trust? Please answer yes or no to each action. General Population,
Hong Kong, question asked of half the sample.
Percent who engage in each behavior based on trust
Behaviors for Distrusted Companies Behaviors for Trusted Companies
Refused to buy products/services
Criticized Companies
Shared Negative Opinions
Disagreed with others
Paid More than
wanted
Sold Shares
Chose to buy products/services
Recommended them to a friend/colleague
Shared Positive Opinions Online
Defended Company
Paid More
Bought Shares
most trusted
content creators:#1
Friends and
Family
General
Population

35. 35
Thank You