Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman USA, has said that confidence in business has been seriously eroded over the last 12 months. The 2009 Trust Barometer is Edelman’s 10th annual report on trust, the interpretation of the results of research conducted in telephone interviews during December 2008 among a sampling of 25 to 64 year olds in 20 countries. The results aren’t promising. For instance:

Nearly two-thirds of informed public  (62%) trust corporations less than they did a year ago

Only 38% said they trust business to do what is right — a 20% plunge since last year — and only 17% said they trust information from a company’s CEO

Seventy-seven percent (77%) said they refused to buy products or services from a company they distrusted — the first time the survey explored people’s direct actions toward trusted and distrusted companies. Seventy-two percent (72%) criticized a distrusted company to a friend or colleague.

“Our survey confirms that it’s going to be harder to rebuild our economies because no institution has captured the trust that business has lost — trust is not a zero-sum game,” said Edelman in a statement.