Brands
Most Trusted Brands Report 2020
Report summary
For more recent data and analysis, see Morning Consult's Most Trusted Brands 2021.
Despite a number of high profile corporate scandals in recent years, most major brands have maintained high levels of confidence from consumers. Top performing brands, including Google and Amazon, are more well-trusted than any major institution, save the military. But while brand trust is relatively strong today, there is a generational challenge facing brands in the future. Younger consumers are generally more skeptical of corporate America and hold higher ethical standards for brands.
Key Takeaways
- Levels of distrust are high in America: Distrust is particularly high when it comes to institutions and major concentrations of power.
- But consumers tend to trust most major brands: Looking at 100 major brands, the average is trusted by 59 percent and distrusted by just 13 percent.
- USPS, Amazon, and Google are the Most Trusted Brands: Google is the topperforming brand with Gen Z and Millennials; USPS is number one with Gen X and Boomers.
- Reliability is the key driver of brand trust: 69 percent say it’s very important brands deliver consistently on what they promise when considering trust.
- Gen Z and millennials hold brands to a higher standard: Young Americans are generally more skeptical of brands, and put greater emphasis on ethical matters.
Methodology
The Most Trusted Brands rankings were determined using surveys conducted online among a national sample of adults. The surveys were conducted from9/3/19 through12/3/19, with an average of 16,700 interviews per brand for nearly 2,000 brands. All other data is drawn from a survey conducted 12/3/19–12/5/19 among a nationally representative sample of 2,200 U.S. adults.
