Most trusted brands remained stable in June quarter: Roy Morgan
Consumer trust for leading Australian brands remained fairly stable in the June quarter of this year, according to Roy Morgan’s Net Trust Score rankings.
This stability was despite a number of changes in the social and political landscape, with the Albanese government having put an end to nine years of rule by the Coalition, and growing inflation continuing to wreak havoc on the Australian economy.
According to ABS CPI figures, inflation was at an annual rate of 6.1% in June – the highest in more than two decades – prompting the RBA to begin the first interest rate increasing cycle since 2010. However, these factors had not yet been fully realised in the retail sector as of June, with ABS figures putting retail sales growth at 12% compared to June 2021.
In this context, it is of little surprise that retailers have held strong in Net Trust Score rankings, with no major changes within the top five brands, which have long been topped by Woolworths, followed by fellow grocery competitor Coles. You can read more about how the two major grocery retailers square up here.
The top two are followed by hardware retailer Bunnings Warehouse, grocery underdog Aldi, and department store retailer Kmart. The top five positions have now remained unchained for three straight quarters.
Qantas has also managed to hold on to its 6th place position, despite its continued failings towards its customers, with Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine anticipating that the backlash will be captured in the next quarter’s results.
“Qantas Airlines held onto sixth position despite a fall in Net Trust as the airline grappled with similar problems facing airlines worldwide as the industry ‘powers up’ after being heavily disrupted for two years,” said Levine.
“Fewer Australians are trusting Qantas because of factors related to reliability and customer service, and more Australian are distrusting the airline because of poor service, and Qantas being perceived to be a poor employer.
“Qantas CEO Alan Joyce issued a public apology to customers this week for flight cancellations, delays and luggage mishandling in recent months – the impact of these actions will be captured in next quarter’s results.”
There were some slight shuffles in the top 10, with Apple jumping two spots up to 7th position, as Myer and Toyota drop one spot each into 8th and 9th place accordingly. The results mark a strong year for Apple, which at the end of December 2021 was in 15th place, having already experienced a significant increase in trust in that year alone.
Outside the top 10, the top 20 saw a few more notable moves, with Samsung up to places to 13th, the ABC up two places to 15th and JB Hi moving up one spot to 17th. Wesfarmers also entered the top 20 for the first time.
Levine said: “Respondents who trust Wesfarmers said of the company that it is ‘community minded’ and a ‘great employer’, ‘Wesfarmers operate their businesses with integrity’, that Wesfarmers is a ‘longstanding company that has proved itself in the community’, that it is a ‘key contributor to Australia’s wealth and prosperity and they act with a social conscience’ and they’re a ‘Reliable and well-managed group of retailers’.”
Roy Morgan’s analysis also looked at the top 20 list of Australia’s most distrusted brands, with BP entering the top 20 list while brands including News Corp, Rio Tinto, Nestle, McDonald’s, Optus, AGL, BP and Uber all experienced rising distrust rankings during the year ending June 2022.
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