ALDI, Bunnings, Qantas and ABC the Most Trusted Brands in Australia
It’s official. ALDI is Australia’s most trusted brand - for the second survey in a row. According to a new survey revealing Australia’s top ten brands with positive net trust scores (NTS), Aldi is #1 and Bunnings is ranked #2, followed by Qantas #3 and the ABC #4.
These are the findings of the latest Roy Morgan Net Trust Score Survey – conducted in July of this year. The first two benchmark surveys were conducted in October 2017 and January 2018, with a third conducted in February and a fourth in April.
Comparing this most recent (July) survey with the previous (April) survey, Qantas improved one place from #4, and the ABC jumped three places from #7.
The Roy Morgan Net Trust Score survey for July also reveals that ALDI, Bunnings and Qantas have remained in the top five most trusted brands across all surveys since October 2017.
Bendigo Bank is the only bank brand to defy the fallout from the Financial Services Royal Commission. It has, despite the Royal Commission and the high levels of distrust in the banking sector, remained in the top ten brands with a positive Net Trust Score (NTS) across the five surveys to date.
On the flipside, while the big-four banks remain in the top ten most distrusted list, partly due to revelations of wrongdoing in the Royal Commission, AMP has moved from nowhere in the benchmark survey to feature prominently in the two most recent surveys of Australian brands with a negative NTS.
According to Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine, AMP provides a good insight into how distrust can have a material effect on brand value and sustainable growth.
“The banks were already deeply distrusted so any material impact on their market value is up and down. But AMP has never before been so distrusted,” she said.
“Seventeen years ago, AMP shares were worth more than $14. Today they’re worth less than $3.50. That’s a drop of 72 per cent.
“AMP’s skyrocketing level of distrust has cost the household brand billions of dollars. According to financial analysts, more than $4 billion has been wiped off the company’s value as a direct consequence of revelations during the Royal Commission.”
Since October last year Roy Morgan has asked more than 10,000 Australians to nominate brands they trust and brands they distrust, and why. Surveys are unprompted and open-ended. A Net Trust Score or NTS is calculated by subtracting a nominated brand’s distrust score from its trust score.
Industry Specific NTS Surveys
In addition to the all brand NTS surveys Roy Morgan has conducted 4 industry specific NTS surveys*. In the Roy Morgan industry-specific NTS surveys:
- Bendigo Bank is ranked #1 most Australia’s trusted bank in Australia
- HCF is #1 most trusted Private Health Insurer
- Netball is the #1 most trusted sport
- the ABC is the #1 most trusted media brand … and
- SBS the #1 most trusted commercial media brand
According to Michele Levine, Facebook is another example of how skyrocketing distrust has a material effect on brand value.
“Facebook was accused of being a platform for fake news, international political interference, and was attacked over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal.
“Facebook’s distrust score catapulted it into the #1 ranking on the Roy Morgan top ten most distrusted media brands, and into the top ten most distrusted brands in Australia.
“Facebook’s earnings dropped and its share price plummeted, wiping $US145 billion off its market value,” she said.
Trust across Industry Sector
The latest Roy Morgan NTS survey reveals that the most trusted industry sector is retail, with the banking sector, by far, the most distrusted.
For comments or more information please contact:
Roy Morgan Enquiries
Office: +61 (3) 9224 5309
askroymorgan@roymorgan.com
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine speaks about Trust & Distrust at ABCTV's Qanda studio in Sydney - Thursday August 30, 2018.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine and Social Scientist Dr. Ross Honeywill speak about Trust & Distrust at ABCTV's Qanda studio in Sydney - Thursday August 30, 2018
*Note the industry specific surveys use the same questioning as the All Brand NTS survey the only difference being the frame – Thinking about all kinds of media, including social media, which brands do you trust? Thinking about the integrity of professional sports in Australia, which do you trust? Which private health insurance companies do you trust? We're conducting a survey on banking trustworthiness. Which banks do you trust?
A Full Net Trust Score survey Report is now available, providing a comprehensive analysis of a company’s NTS, revealing how many Australians TRUST and DISTRUST the brand, its key competitors, and its industry sector – reported by:
- The brand’s Net Trust Scores (NTS) and rankings
- NTS rankings by State
- NTS rankings by Gender
- NTS and rankings by Age
- The brand’s NTS compared to the highest and lowest brands (all brands)
- The brand’s NTS compared to the highest and lowest brands in its industry sector
- The Drivers of TRUST and DISTRUST – why do Australians feel the way they do about the brand? And its industry sector?
The customised Full Report is available for $35,000+GST from 1800 633 813 or askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.
For comments or more information please contact:
Roy Morgan - Enquiries
Office: +61 (03) 9224 5309
askroymorgan@roymorgan.com
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
