Half of company directors believe that excessively high pay for executives is the biggest threat to public trust in business, according to a new study.

A survey of 1,000 members of the Institute of Directors (IoD), carried out on behalf of the High Pay Centre think tank, found that 52% identified anger over senior levels of executive pay, just ahead of product mis-selling or unsympathetic portrayals of business in the media.

The High Pay Centre said it believed the survey findings will increase pressure on political parties to include further measures to contain top pay in their general election manifestos.

The coalition has given shareholders the power to veto proposed executive pay packages, but the issue has remained controversial, fuelled by details of bankers' bonuses last week.

The survey also found that 54% of IoD members thought that building a successful company was the most important motivation for a business executive, compared with just 13% who said they were motivated by financial reward.

Deborah Hargreaves, director of the High Pay Centre, said: "These findings destroy the argument that criticism of excessive executive pay is somehow 'anti-business'. Outside the boardrooms of big corporations, ordinary small and medium-sized business owners are as appalled by the culture of top pay as anybody else.

"When big business leaders rake in seven- or eight-figure pay packages every year, including massive bonuses regardless of company performance, we are clearly seeing a corporate governance failure rather than a fair and functional free market. Ordinary workers, customers and wider society, not to mention shareholders, are being ripped off."

Simon Walker, director general of the IoD, said: "Performance-related pay can be a key driver of success. Companies of all sizes have policies that reward individual contributions through mechanisms such as commission and bonuses. When it comes to senior executives there are higher standards, and rightly so. Pay must be sufficiently long-term to encourage them to plan five, 10 or 20 years ahead.

"However, in some corners of corporate Britain pay for top executives has become so divided from performance that it cannot be justified. Runaway pay packages, golden hellos and inflammatory bonuses are running the reputation of business into the ground. Large companies need to look closely at the role excessive pay is playing in fuelling an anti-business backlash from the public and some politicians. IoD members are justifiably concerned at the impact this is having on their own small and medium-sized companies.

"As remuneration committees begin to consider this year's pay deals, I would urge them to take note of the shareholder backlash we saw last year. There is a responsibility on the part of directors and boards to restore the link between long-term performance, accountability, shareholder return and executive rewards. Groups like the IoD and High Pay Centre will continue to keep on the pressure until companies take note."