The technology industry has been ranked most-trusted for the seventh consecutive year, ahead of the automotive, and food and beverage industries, according to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer.

"As an industry, I think tech companies pre-anticipate and solve problems for consumers," Ben Boyd, Edelman's corporate global practice chairman, told Mashable. "I also think in today's world where technology is connecting people, it's the companies that get credit for making it happen. It really creates a halo effect for the industry itself."

The findings of the Trust Barometer, an annual survey of 31,000 people in 26 countries evaluating trust in leaders, institutions and industries, were released Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Edelman's primary takeaway from the study of people in 26 countries was an overwhelming distrust in leadership compared to institutions.

The 20-minute online survey was conducted between Oct. 16 and Nov. 29, 2012 by research firm Edelman Berland. The survey was completed by 26,000 general population responders and an oversample of 5,800 informed publics (college educated, high earners who regularly watch the news).

Among respondents, 77% say they trust technology companies, which is down from 79% in 2012. Boyd warns that the tech industry will face more scrutiny should larger data breeches occur.

"It's a double edged sword: As technology enables more data capture and data dissemination, data concerns are going to rise," Boyd says. "For the tech industry, that's how do we continue to deliver value while not compromising things customers' value."

The least trusted industries are media, banks and financial services, which have been embroiled in major recent controversies. The second-ranked automotive industry, Boyd notes, has regained trust after its late-2000s crisis.

Online Media Gains Trust

Though media institutions, are more trusted in 2013 than they were last year, they still rank less-trusted below NGOs and businesses. This year, 57% of people surveyed trust media, ahead of government institutions (48% trusted), but behind NGOs (63% trusted) and businesses (58% trusted).

Boyd says that distrust in the media industry comes from scandals in recent memory.

"When you think about the BBC scandal, or you think about News Corp., I think the distrust creeps from one enterprise across an industry," he says.

There is a considerable gap between emerging and developed markets' trust in the media industry. Among respondents in emerging markets, 71% trust information found through online search engines, 65% trust traditional media outlets and 58% trust social media. In contrast, just 47% of respondents in developed markets trust online search engines and a mere 26% trust social media.

"In the west we're very computer dependent and I think those emerging markets are so much more mobile savvy as far as the way they consume media," Boyd says. "In those emerging markets you're starting to see info share more quickly and they know it's less controlled by state government than traditional media is."

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