Woolworths wins, Telstra loses in public trust survey
Woolworths is the most trusted of Australia’s large companies when it comes to corporate behaviour, according to the findings of a survey published today.
The survey – carried out by research firm The Leading Edge and reported in today’s Sydney Morning Herald – listed ten of Australia’s biggest spending companies, and asked 1500 consumers about their impressions of them. Criteria covered included fair staff wages, executive salaries, treating customers with respect, and transparency.
The ranking:
- Woolworths
- Coles
- Commonwealth Bank
- St George
- Coca-Cola
- Nestle
- Vodafone
- Telstra
- Procter & Gamble
- Unilever
According to the report, people said they were least likely to speak favourably of Telstra. And three-quarters of those surveyed were most likely to speak well of Woolworths.
SMH marketing writer Julian Lee also makes the public respect report the subject of his column, telling readers:
“I don’t know what Telstra has done to deserve it, aside from its habitual price gouging, its near-monopolistic status and the long delays we experience in getting through to customer service.”
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Oh, I can’t help myself…methodology please.
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Hi Katie,
I’ve asked The Leading Edge for more details. Will post here if they’re forthcoming.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I suspect Telstra’s bad brand image comes from them just not giving a flying f*** about what the customer thinks.
I’d be happy with the high costs if I got any sense that I had any value to them. Instead I feel like I’m just another ‘pig with a cheque book’.
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I know I’m the odd one out … but my service from Telstra has been good. Three broadband outages since August 2002, of which the longest was around three hours. I’ve never gone near exceeding my download limit, and for my cap its a litle cheaper than the competitors. So what Telstra am I using because it’s obviously different to everyone else’s. (And no I don’t work for them.)
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ah… excuse me but why are we talking about Telstra when look who came 3rd. CBA taking the bronze medal (ahead of ‘the people’s bank’) after copping such a hiding from brand commentators is very telling.
However listing the top ten companies by spend and then investigating trust levels is hardly interesting or valuable…2 of the brands (Nestle and Coke) are not service-based brands and a customer trusting a supermarket to offer nappies at the right price is very different to trusting a bank with your life savings. Its a nice headline, but nothing else.
I am sure The Leading Edge have a more relevant data set to share. I hope so anyway.
Karl
MD – Brand Behaviour / Brand Commentator Marketing Magazine
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Hellstra
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