The online survey, which has been conducted annually since 2003, queried 470 senior executives around the world in July.
Advertising and communications partners were down 10% in trust, according to the survey. The following categories also saw declines: commercial banks (-31%), investment banks (-29%), management consulting (-17%), insurance (-15%), telecommunications (-11%). auditors (-7%), tech consulting (-6%), software (-5%) and hardware (-3%).
“To thrive in the long term, worldwide corporate executives realize there's no cutting corners when it comes to using some suppliers,” Carl Anderson, CEO of Doremus, said in a statement. “Taking into account the general lack of trust for service providers across the board, the opportunity lies with those that provide what is deemed ‘business critical.' ”