What buyers want. What the system delivers.
Across corruption, privacy, climate, public safety, and the future for children, people agree overwhelmingly. The suppliers they pay every day work against their core interests, and profit by doing so. That gap is the structural failure Supplierism names. Here it is, in numbers.
The share of business executives who think customers highly trust their companies. The share of customers who actually do. The gap widens every year.
Separately, 70% of Americans believe business leaders deliberately mislead the public.² In Canada, 57% of consumers do not believe most corporate green claims.¹² Across North America, the gap between what business says about itself and what people believe is wide and getting wider.
Adults across the United States, Canada, and Mexico who do not trust the companies they buy from.
A buyer group with combined purchasing power greater than the consumer economies of Germany, France, and Italy together. No supplier on earth can ignore terms set by this many people.
Brazil's score on the Edelman Trust Index, out of 100. Mexico ranks 57. Colombia 55. Argentina 50. The average level of trust across business, government, media, and NGOs.
Latin America has lived through a decade of corporate megascandals. Petrobras and Odebrecht in Brazil. JBS. Parallel patterns in Mexican retail and finance. Across the region, the expectation that business would fix what governments cannot has been met with persistent disappointment. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found 61% of people globally hold a moderate or high sense of grievance against business and government.²⁰
Adults across Latin America who do not trust the institutions that shape their lives.
A buyer group spanning twenty countries from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. Acting on shared terms, Latin American consumers could remake the corporate behaviour of the world's most rapidly urbanizing continent.
Of Germans hold a moderate or high sense of grievance against business and government. Europe's largest economy distrusts the institutions that shape it.
Across Europe's largest economies, the Edelman Trust Index places Germany (41), the UK (43), and France (48) among the world's least trusting nations. Five of the ten largest global economies sit at the bottom of the trust index.²⁰ The corporate trust deficit is now structural.
Adults across Europe who hold a sense of grievance against the institutions that shape their lives.
A buyer group spanning twenty-seven member states plus the United Kingdom. Acting on shared terms, European buyers could set the global standard for corporate behaviour. The regulators tried. The regulators ran out of road.
Japan's score on the Edelman Trust Index, out of 100. The least trusting nation on earth. South Korea ranks 49. Australia 50.
The Asia-Pacific region houses the most trusting and least trusting nations on the planet. China at 77, Indonesia at 76, and India at 75 sit atop the index.²⁰ Japan, South Korea, and Australia rank among the most distrusting. In the region's mature democracies, faith in corporate behaviour has fallen to its lowest recorded level. In its growth economies, the trust is conditional and beginning to fray.
Adults across the Asia-Pacific region whose trust in corporate institutions varies from the highest to the lowest in the world.
A buyer group representing more than one-third of the human population. Acting on shared terms, Asia-Pacific consumers would not be following global standards. They would be setting them.
Of South Africans hold a moderate or high sense of grievance against business and government. Ten points above the global average.
South Africa lived through the state-capture scandal that implicated Bain, KPMG, McKinsey, and SAP. Steinhoff. Tongaat Hulett. The corporate fraud of the past decade has shaped a public that does not believe what business says about itself. In Kenya, 70% hold the same sense of grievance.²⁰ Across the continent, business is on probation.
Adults across Africa whose trust in corporate institutions has been broken by a decade of fraud and capture.
A buyer group spanning fifty-four nations and the planet's youngest population. The continent shaping the demographic future of the world has the leverage to shape its corporate future as well.
Of Americans believe the risks of corporate data collection outweigh the benefits.
92% of Americans are concerned about Internet privacy.⁴ 84% want more control over how their data is used. 74% rarely or never read privacy policies. 82% see AI data loss as a serious personal threat.⁵ In Canada, 74% believe they have less privacy protection than a decade ago.¹³ Across the continent, the public has lost faith in the bargain.
Adults across North America who believe the data bargain is not worth the cost.
A buyer group greater than the entire consumer economy of China, refusing to participate on current terms. The regulators have not delivered. The buyers can.
Of Latin Americans concerned about how companies collect and use their personal data.
Brazil's LGPD came into force in 2020. Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia have privacy laws of varying maturity.²¹ Enforcement remains uneven. The strongest predictor of how a company will handle Latin American consumer data is whether its home regulator forces it to.
Adults across Latin America whose privacy expectations exceed what local regulators can enforce.
A buyer group whose privacy expectations are formed in Brussels and Washington but whose actual data is held under weaker regimes. Aggregated, this group could close the gap.
Of European consumers are concerned about the extent of personal information companies have access to.
Just 42% trust companies to use their personal information responsibly.¹⁵ 76% never read the full privacy policy.¹⁶ Eight years after GDPR became law, consumer distrust of corporate data practices has not recovered.
Adults across Europe who do not trust the companies that hold their data.
A buyer group larger than the entire consumer economy of China. Acting on shared terms, European buyers could set the global standard for corporate behaviour.
Of Asia-Pacific consumers want more control over how companies use their personal data.
China's PIPL, Singapore's PDPA, South Korea's PIPA, Australia's Privacy Act, and Japan's APPI form a patchwork of overlapping privacy regimes. Compliance varies. Cross-border data flows complicate it further. The region's consumers are demanding privacy protections their patchwork of laws cannot consistently deliver.²²
Adults across Asia-Pacific whose data is the most actively monetized on the planet.
A buyer group whose data is the most monetized on earth. The capacity to set supplier terms exists at unprecedented scale.
Of South Africans concerned about how companies handle their personal data.
South Africa's POPIA came into force in 2021. Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana have followed.²³ Enforcement is uneven. African consumers' privacy expectations form against a backdrop of weak regulators and aggressive cross-border data collection by global platforms.
Adults across Africa whose data is harvested at scale by platforms beyond their regulators' reach.
A buyer group whose data is harvested at scale by platforms beyond their regulators' reach. Aggregated, this group could change the terms.
Of Americans are worried about global warming.
69% of Americans believe global warming will harm future generations.⁸ Canadian concern is higher still. 81% of Canadians are concerned about climate change.¹⁸ Mexico ranks among the most climate-concerned countries in the world.⁶ The continent's willingness to act exists. The procurement-grade tools to act collectively do not.
Adults across North America worried about climate change.
A buyer group larger than the entire population of Russia, choosing climate action through their suppliers when their governments will not.
Of Latin Americans see climate change as a serious threat. Among the highest concern of any global region.
Climate concern in Latin America ranks among the highest globally. Direct exposure to Amazon deforestation. Drought. Glacier retreat in the Andes. Hurricane intensity in Central America and the Caribbean. The political and corporate responses have not matched the population's concern.⁶
Adults across Latin America living with climate change as everyday reality.
A buyer group living with the consequences of climate change as everyday reality, not a future threat. The leverage to demand supplier-side action exists across the entire continent.
Of European citizens believe climate change is a serious problem facing the world.
80% support the EU's goal of climate neutrality by 2050.¹⁹ 92% report taking individual climate action. The political consensus exists. The buyer-side mechanism to enforce it does not.
Adults across Europe who see climate change as a serious problem.
A buyer group whose climate values cannot be enforced through politics alone. Suppliers can be required to deliver what governments have only promised.
Of Asia-Pacific respondents view climate change as a serious problem.
Asia-Pacific is simultaneously the world's largest emitter (China) and one of the most climate-vulnerable regions (South and Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands).⁶ In Japan, 85% concerned; in India, 80%. The largest population on earth carries the most direct climate exposure.
Adults across Asia-Pacific whose climate fate is shaped by corporate decisions made across the region.
A buyer group whose climate fate is bound up with corporate decisions made in capitals from Beijing to Tokyo to Mumbai. The aggregated demand for supplier-side accountability would be the largest single climate signal ever sent.
Of Africans see climate change as a serious problem affecting their country.
Africa has produced less than 4% of historical carbon emissions but is the continent most exposed to climate consequences. Drought. Sea-level rise. Agricultural disruption. Displacement.²⁴ Across the continent, citizens see the disconnect between who caused the problem and who pays the price.
Adults across Africa carrying the heaviest climate burden in the world relative to their contribution.
A buyer group whose climate burden is the heaviest in the world relative to their contribution to the problem. Their leverage to set terms on global suppliers operating across their continent exists. It is not being used.
Of countries score below 50 on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. The global average has fallen to a record low of 42.
The number of countries scoring above 80, the threshold of meaningful integrity, has shrunk from 12 a decade ago to just five today. And even in those five, the corruption gap shifts from public-sector to corporate. The suppliers buyers pay every day are unaccountable in ways the public sector no longer is. Opposition to corruption is one of the few principles on which the entire planet agrees, and yet corruption persists.⁹
Every adult on Earth.
The entire global consumer economy, aligned on one principle. The unanimity has always existed. The mechanism to act on it has not.
Of North Americans do not believe their children will be better off financially than they were.
Pessimism about the next generation in the United States has reached its highest recorded level.¹⁰ Canada records one of the highest levels of intergenerational pessimism in the developed world. Three of every four North American adults expect their children to inherit a worse economic future.
Adults across North America worried that the next generation will inherit a worse economic future.
A buyer group expressing on behalf of generations that have no voice in current procurement markets. The expectation that capitalism delivers for the next generation has collapsed across the continent.
Of Latin American parents believe their children will be worse off financially than they were.
Across Latin America, the post-2014 commodity downturn and persistent inequality have produced some of the strongest intergenerational pessimism of any global region.¹⁰ Brazil and Argentina record especially high figures. The economic miracle promised by 1990s liberalization has not arrived.
Adults across Latin America whose belief in shared prosperity has collapsed.
A buyer group whose belief in shared prosperity has collapsed. The mechanism to restore it is not state-led. It is consumer-led, supplier-facing.
Of Europeans worry the next generation will inherit a worse economic future.
In Germany, pessimism about the next generation has risen from 42% in 2019 to 61% today.¹¹ The intergenerational anxiety is now continental.
Adults across Europe worried that the next generation will inherit a worse economic future.
A buyer group whose intergenerational anxiety is shared across the continent. The instruments to enforce that anxiety as supplier accountability do not yet exist.
Of Asia-Pacific parents in mature economies believe their children will be worse off. In growth economies, faith remains higher but the gap is narrowing.
Japan's intergenerational pessimism is among the highest in the world, driven by demographic decline.¹¹ South Korea and Singapore track similarly. India and Indonesia remain more optimistic but the gap is narrowing. Across the region, the bargain between generations is under strain.
Adults across Asia-Pacific living through a generational bargain in transition.
A buyer group whose youngest members are projected to live worse lives than their parents in mature markets, and whose oldest members in growth markets are watching that bargain weaken.
Of Kenyans believe the next generation will be better off than their own. Among the top six most optimistic populations on earth.
Africa's youth bulge. Over 60% of the continent is under 25. The youth bulge generates intergenerational hope unmatched in the developed world.²⁰ But hope without procurement-grade tools to enforce supplier accountability translates into outcomes determined by foreign corporations operating in regulatory grey zones.
Adults across Africa whose optimism for the next generation is the world's highest.
A buyer group whose optimism for the next generation is the world's highest. The instruments to convert that optimism into corporate accountability have not yet been built.
People want honesty, privacy, a livable climate, accountable institutions, and a fair future for their children. The companies they buy from have been operating as if those preferences do not exist. This is not because buyers are wrong. It is because buyers, until now, have had no procurement-grade tools to enforce what they want.
Supplierism is the framework that closes the gap. The publication explains how, one case at a time.
Subscribe on SubstackA note on methodology. Regional figures are drawn from comparable cross-national surveys (Edelman, Pew, Eurobarometer, Afrobarometer, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Salesforce, KPMG) and weighted toward the largest economies of each continent. Trust scoring varies across cultures. Japanese respondents score systematically lower than Indian respondents on every trust question, irrespective of subject. Where this matters, the surrounding text notes it. Aggregate purchasing-power figures use World Bank PPP-adjusted household consumption.