Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Long-standing brands around the home are most trusted
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- Figure 1: Top ranking of brands by agreement with the statement “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Finance brands, particularly loan brands, least likely to build trust
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- Figure 2: Brands with the lowest scores for “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Experience of a brand helps to build familiarity and trust
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- Figure 3: Brand awareness to usage ratio, by proportion of agreement with trust, 2014-15
- Ethics matter – but only to a point
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- Figure 4: Proportion of consumers who associate a brand with the word “ethical”, by the proportion who trust that brand, 2014-15
- Perceived quality translates into greater levels of trust
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- Figure 5: Perceived high quality, by proportion of agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- A contrast between high-use categories…
- …and sectors where people have fewer direct interactions
- Aldi and Lidl shaping new behaviours and attitudes in the grocery category
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- Figure 6: Trust over time of The Big Four supermarkets and Aldi and Lidl, 2012–15
- What we think
Brand Trust Overview – What You Need to Know
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- Functional brands occupy the top spots
- Amazon a standout
- Familiarity breeds trust
- Consistency is needed to develop trust
- Finance brands suffer from negative industry associations
Most Trusted Brands
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- Familiar brands around the home are the most trusted
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- Figure 7: Top ranking of brands by agreement with the statement “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Familiarity breeds trust
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- Figure 8: Usage of top trusted brands, 2014-15
- Customer experience helps to build trust…
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- Figure 9: Satisfaction and recommendation of top trusted brands, 2014-15
- …but is not the be-all and end-all
- On rare occasions, brands can build high trust without excelling in other areas
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- Figure 10: Other perceptions of top trusted brands, 2014-15
Brands that Lack High Trust Levels
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- Finance brands, particularly loan brands, least likely to build trust
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- Figure 11: Brands with the lowest scores for “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Newspapers break the link between trust and usage
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- Figure 12: Use of brands with low scores for “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Least trusted brands generally struggle elsewhere
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- Figure 13: Other perceptions of brands with low scores for “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Least trusted brands generally have lower satisfaction
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- Figure 14: Satisfaction and recommendation of brands with low scores for “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
Sector Review – What You Need to Know
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- Enhancing the customer experience in retail
- Luxury brands can build trust on reputation alone
- Function helps household and personal care brands
- Appealing to core human emotions in travel
- Expertise in other categories boosts trust in finance categories
- Trusted food and drink brands prove their quality over time
Automotive
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- Ford and Mercedes-Benz top the most trusted car brands
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- Figure 15: Top trusted brands in the automotive sector, 2014-15
- Consumers need to feel confident in their choice of automotive brand
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- Figure 16: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the automotive sector, 2014-15
Beauty and Personal Care
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- NIVEA secures three brands in the top ten BPC brands
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- Figure 17: Top ten trusted brands in the beauty and personal care sector, 2014-15
- BPC brands that can combine functionality with satisfying the consumer ego likely to perform strongly
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- Figure 18: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the beauty and personal care sector, 2014-15
Drink
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- Range of different drink types in top trusted brands
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- Figure 19: Top ten trusted brands in the drink category, 2014-15
- Consumers enjoy feeling pride in their choice of drink brand
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- Figure 20: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the drink sector, 2014-15
Energy
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- British Gas history provides an advantage
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- Figure 21: Top trusted brands in the energy provider category, 2014-15
- Customer service can be a differentiator for energy suppliers
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- Figure 22: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the energy sector, 2014-15
Fashion
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- Luxury fashion brands can create trust without active experience
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- Figure 23: Top trusted brands in the fashion sector, 2014-15
- There is an expectation that fashion brands can boost confidence
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- Figure 24: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the fashion sector, 2014-15
Finance
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- The most-trusted financial services brands are drawing on attributes from other markets
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- Figure 25: Top trusted brands in the financial services sector, 2014-15
- Finance brands can protect themselves by concentrating on customer care
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- Figure 26: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the financial services sector, 2014-15
Food
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- Food: another sector where heritage translates to trust
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- Figure 27: Top trusted brands in the food sector, 2014-15
- Proving quality over time appears to be a key factor in trust generation for food
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- Figure 28: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the food sector, 2014-15
Foodservice
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- Trusted foodservice brands have high exposure
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- Figure 29: Top trusted brands in the foodservice sector, 2014-15
- Consistency in foodservice is key
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- Figure 30: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the foodservice sector, 2014-15
Household Care
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- Household care’s functional side actively builds trust
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- Figure 31: Top trusted brands in the household care market, 2014-15
- Confidence and quality important factors for household care
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- Figure 32: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the household sector, 2014-15
Media
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- Trust does not necessarily lead to readership
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- Figure 33: Top trusted brands in the media category, 2014-15
- Media brands need to be aware of what their readers want to see
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- Figure 34: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the media sector, 2014-15
Retail
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- Amazon is most trusted retailer
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- Figure 35: Top trusted brands in the retail category, 2014-15
- Online retailers changing the meaning of customer service
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- Figure 36: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the retail category, 2014-15
Technology and Service Providers
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- Big name tech brands top the list
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- Figure 37: Top trusted brands in the technology product and service provider category, 2014-15
- Signs that technology has not yet become second nature
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- Figure 38: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the tech product and service sector, 2014-15
Travel
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- A mix of premium and budget travel brands
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- Figure 39: Top trusted brands in the travel sector, 2014-15
- Safety influences trust in travel brands
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- Figure 40: Top five factors with the highest correlation with trust in the travel sector, 2014-15
Factors Influencing Trust – What You Need to Know
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- First step to trusting a brand is to actually use it
- Ethics matter – to a point
- Brands with a strong association of value may lack the trust of others
- Brands should pay attention to their reputation
The Role of Awareness and Brand Experience
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- Experience of a brand helps to build familiarity and trust
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- Figure 41: Brand awareness to usage ratio, by proportion of agreement with trust, 2014-15
- Premium brands able to create trust on the basis of reputation as well as customer experience…
- …While tabloids, carbonated drinks and supermarkets under-perform compared to usage
The Role of Ethics
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- Ethics not a huge influencer on trust, but consumers do expect a minimum amount of CSR
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- Figure 42: Proportion of consumers who associate a brand with the word “ethical”, by the proportion who trust that brand, 2014-15
- Brands with ethical images are often more niche
- Brands should still avoid being seen as unethical
- The dangers of negative social media coverage
- Starbucks in need of repairing image in wake of online criticism
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- Figure 43: Proportion of total brand conversation around ethics and tax, 2010-15
- Banking brands tend to consistently suffer more online than others
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- Figure 44: Proportion of brand mentions around ethics and unethical behaviour, 2011-15
- Yet Barclays and HSBC show improvement in image despite negative coverage
- Concerns over labour conditions create spikes but do not have the same reach or longevity
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- Figure 45: Proportion of brand mentions around ethics and unethical behaviour, 2011-15
- Primark improving image in the wake of increased ethical initiatives
- Apple’s image remains largely unchanged
The Role of Good Customer Service
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- Trust is strongly shaped by customer experience
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- Figure 46: Perceived good customer service, by proportion of agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- A few brands break from the norm
- Poor customer service a driver for change
The Role of Perceived Value
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- A reputation for value can be a defining point for a brand
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- Figure 47: Perceived good value, by proportion of agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Value isn’t about price alone – but low prices can define a brand
The Role of Perceived Quality
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- Increase in perception of quality can directly drive increase in trust
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- Figure 48: Perceived high quality, by proportion of agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
The Role of a Good Reputation
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- Reputation crucial to trust in most cases
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- Figure 49: Perceived good reputation, by proportion of agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Amazon’s service and overall brand strength can minimise the impact of criticism
The Impact of Perceived Healthiness in Food Brands
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- Little correlation between healthiness and trust in food brands
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- Figure 50: Perceived healthiness, by proportion of agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2014-15
- Concerns over health might still limit the development of trust though
Cross Category Comparison – What You Need to Know
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- Aldi and Lidl shaping new behaviours and attitudes in the grocery category
- Consumers are more confident with value brands in general
- Banking brands on the rise, but still can’t shake off past mistakes
- VW’s trust has plummeted post-emissions scandal
- Ford has come out unscathed
Discount Grocers Making an Impact
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- Aldi and Lidl causing disruption in the supermarket category
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- Figure 51: Trust over time of The Big Four supermarkets and Aldi and Lidl, August 2012-August 2015
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- Figure 52: Usage of supermarkets in the last year, August 2012-August 2015
- Aldi and Lidl changing the meaning of value in the supermarket category
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- Figure 53: The perception of offering good value over time in The Big Four supermarkets and Aldi and Lidl, August 2012-August 2015
Trust in Value Brands
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- Consumers now more trusting of value brands than before…
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- Figure 54: Change in trust and usage in the last year of brands with high scores for offering value, 2012-15
- …but trust appears to have little impact on actual usage of these value brands
Rebuilding Trust in the Banking Sector
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- Consumers more trusting of the industry as a whole
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- Figure 55: Proportion of people with any trust in different elements of the banking industry, June 2014 and May 2015
- Trust in individual brands is also on the rise
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- Figure 56: Brand scores for agreement with “A brand I trust”, 2012–15
- Brands can take themselves out of the overall impact by showing themselves to be different
- Three brands most strongly affected by scandals in recent years
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- Figure 57: Proportion of consumers who trust Barclays, 2012-15
- Figure 58: Proportion of consumers who trust The Co-operative Bank, 2012-15
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- Figure 59: Proportion of consumers who trust HSBC, 2012-15
- All banks have shown signs of recovery, helped by their strong overall brand images
- Impact of drop in trust is minimal in the short term…
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- Figure 60: Barclays trust and usage in the last 12 months, 2012-15
- Figure 61: The Co-operative Bank trust and usage in the last 12 months, 2012-15
- …but usage does not necessarily increase in line with trust afterwards
Impact of the Emissions Scandal
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- Emissions scandal knocks trust in Volkswagen
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- Figure 62: Brand perceptions of Volkswagen, December 2014 and November 2015
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- Figure 63: Brand perceptions of Audi, December 2014 and November 2015
- Other automotive brands also appear to have been affected
- Ford may stand to benefit the most
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- Figure 64: Brand perceptions of Ford, December 2014 and November 2015
- Volkswagen in a position to recover
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Abbreviations
Appendix – The Market
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- Figure 65: Primark brand attributes, 2012-15
- Figure 66: Apple brand attributes, 2012-15
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- Figure 67: Amazon brand attributes, 2012-15
- Figure 68: Barclays brand attributes, 2012-15
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Appendix – Brands Covered
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