The credibility of companies in Spain stands at 52 points out of 100.

A barely passing grade that reflects limited and conditional public confidence in the business sector, according to the Lasker Sector Credibility Index

This indicator, created in collaboration with GFK based on 1,200 surveys, seeks to measure the trust that citizens place in the main business sectors that make up economic activity in Spain, as well as to identify what behaviors and values ​​contribute to it.

Sectors directly linked to daily consumption – where the customer sees and receives the product immediately – such as Food and E-commerce, are the most credible, while at the opposite end of the spectrum are sectors with more complex services, perceived as opaque or difficult to understand, and with less competition, such as Financial, Energy, or Real Estate.

In this sense, the analysis of the attributes that make up the Lasker Index shows that credibility is mainly based on the actual functioning of the service or the product experience – clear information, fulfillment of the promise and attention to incidents – rather than on the declared messages or values.

Analysis of the Lasker Index by age group reveals an unusual pattern: credibility doesn't decline progressively, but rather is concentrated in two critical life stages. The 35-44 age group (47.6 points) shows the lowest level of credibility, as citizens have a more intense and complex relationship with companies. Credibility is assessed based on direct experience and compliance, and it is in this age group that a lack of clarity, incidents, or broken promises are most penalized.

The second area of ​​distrust, which is particularly relevant, is the over-64 age group, which, with 49.5 points, is the second most critical group, also below the national average. In this case, the distrust stems not from friction, but from disconnection.

“The accelerated digitization of services, the automation of care, and the increasing complexity of contracts generate a feeling of vulnerability and loss of personalized treatment, which erodes the credibility of the business sectors,” says Vicente Beneyto, managing partner of Lasker.

In contrast, young people aged 18 to 24 (60.2 points) and those aged 25 to 34 (57.1) give the highest scores, possibly because their relationship with the business fabric is more occasional and they have a shorter history of conflicts.

Territorial credibility.
The analysis by autonomous communities of the Lasker Index also reveals very significant territorial differences, with a gap of more than 21 points between the region with the highest credibility and the one with the lowest. However, the map of autonomous communities does not reflect a classic division based on wealth, size, or industrial weight. Communities with strong economic activity do not necessarily obtain better results, and smaller or less populated territories lead the index.

Navarre (66.7) and La Rioja (64.8) top the national ranking and are well above the average, establishing themselves as the regions where citizens perceive companies as the most credible, approachable, and consistent. At the bottom of the list are Catalonia (49.6), Castile-La Mancha (48.6), Asturias (47.2), Castile and León (7.2), and, lastly, the Basque Country (45.5).

The Lasker Index, therefore, suggests that credibility is not built solely on economic results, but also on the daily relationship between companies and the community. Where a company is perceived as part of the community, trust increases. Where it is perceived as distant or disconnected, it suffers.

What values ​​add to the credibility of companies?
Transparency, Honesty, Empathy, Sustainability and Ethical and social commitment are the values ​​that contribute most to the credibility of companies, although not all of them weigh equally in the final perception of citizens.

According to the Lasker Index, Transparency (53.7 points) and Honesty (53.5) - attributes linked to how companies report on the conditions of their services and products, the ease of contacting them and the fulfillment of promises - stand out as the two main pillars of corporate credibility.

Understood as the ability to actively listen to customers, understand their needs and adapt solutions and responses, Empathy ranks third (53 points), demonstrating that a closer and more human relationship with stakeholders significantly strengthens the credibility of companies.

Despite growing public awareness of environmental issues, respondents still perceive a gap between what companies claim and what they actually do. Therefore, while Sustainability (52.1 points) is a key factor for citizens when evaluating the business sector, this pillar only strengthens its credibility when backed by tangible, measurable, and consistent actions over time.

Finally, ethical and social commitment appears as the value with the least impact among the attributes that make a company more credible, reflecting a certain skepticism towards corporate initiatives linked to social causes if they are associated with an image strategy rather than a genuine conviction.
The Lasker Sector Credibility Index has been designed as a continuous improvement tool that aims to analyze the evolution of the attributes upon which companies' reputations are built. “The impact of credibility on a company's reputation is an increasingly relevant asset for its development, and therefore, the challenge lies in demonstrating that these commitments are a structural part of its business model and not merely part of its communication narrative as a guarantee for attracting talent, retaining customers, and consolidating long-term relationships of trust,” concludes Manuel Delgado, managing partner of Lasker.