A strong brand is a powerful thing that makes customers feel everything from joy to reassurance and nostalgia.
It can make some rush out to buy the latest product and, in the reverse, set negative stereotypes that take decades to break.
What Brands Do People Trust The Most?
In its annual round-up of trusted brands, intelligence company Morning Consult found that Americans tend to trust brands that make various health and disinfecting products: Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) Band-Aid topped the list of most trusted brand in the country.
Reckitt Benckiser (RBGPF) 's Lysol and Procter & Gamble (PG20) 's Clorox came close behind.
While shipping company UPS broke the health trend with fourth place, pharmacy chain CVS (CVSGF) and toothpaste brand Colgate (CL.29) followed closely after.
Visa, Cheerios and The Home Depot all made the top 10 alongside the somewhat surprising Weather Channel.
While the results can at least partially be attributed to the pandemic, another trend is time: many of the brands that made the list have a long-running history in American culture.
In other words, it was probably around when in one's parents' or grandparents' time.
"This list of established brands shows that it’s hard to beat companies that have near-total brand awareness and high favorability built through decades of investment, while delivering the most of-the-moment products to consumers," reads the report.
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Americans Trust Band-Aids While The French Trust Lidl
The extensive report also looked at brand trust in countries outside the U.S. by interviewing thousands of consumers in countries like France, Canada and South Korea.
The most trusted brand in Japan was carmaker Toyota (TM) while, in France, it was the German supermarket chain Lidl.
South Koreans trusted tech company Samsung (SSNLF) while, also loyal to their roots, Canadians put great faith into Restaurants Brands International (QSR)-owned Tim Hortons.
Chinese customers have high levels of trust in Alipay (BABAF) .
"One pattern that sticks out is just how much local origins help build trust, even among multinational, billion-dollar companies. The No. 1 Most Trusted Brand in 6 of the 10 countries we surveyed was established in that country," reads the report.
The numbers can be somewhat deceptive since not everyone equates "trust" with a given corporation at all. Morning Consult also looked at who trusts companies in general — 39% of polled Americans said that they don't "tend to trust companies" while 13% of Chinese and 43% of Germans said the same.
What Does It Take To Build (Or Lose) Trust?
In the United States, trust tends to be highest for small businesses and lowest for social media platforms.
Japanese, meanwhile, are most likely to trust food and beverage companies and carmakers more than businesses that originated online.
There is also a generational divide as younger people are much less likely to trust corporations than their older counterparts in general. While 62% of Americans have some trust in companies overall, only half of Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) do.
In some ways, trust is tied to factors outside of individual companies' control such as years on the market and certain societal movements. But brands also build trust by knowing consumers well and meeting them with what they need — a challenge that will continue across years and countries.
"Brands on this list need to be mindful of the next, more skeptical generation coming of age. Gen Zers are much less likely than their older counterparts to trust any of these brands, creating obstacles for these mainstays and opportunities for newcomers in the market," Morning Consult said.
