Retailers continue to hold top spots as most trusted while Qantas, ABC, Shell, TikTok and Pfizer more distrusted this quarter in Roy Morgan’s latest ‘Net Trust’ rankings
The latest Roy Morgan Net Trust rankings for the 12 months to September 2022 continue to show retailers holding the top spots with all five of the most trusted brands being retailers.
The top five most trusted brands are unchanged for a fourth straight quarter – Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings Warehouse, ALDI and Kmart.
The strength in retail sales we have witnessed throughout 2022 has continued with ABS Retail Sales data for September 2022 showing an increase in sales of 17.9% on a year ago – well over double the inflation rate of 7.3% for the same period.
These results show that Australians are heading to retailers at record levels and this high patronage is clearly impacting upon how Australians view their most trusted brands.
The strong retail results are expected to continue with the latest Roy Morgan-Australian Retailers Association (ARA) forecasts for the pre-Christmas period projecting record retail spending of $66 billion in the run-up to Christmas, up 6.4% on a year ago.
The impact of record retail spending is also apparent outside the top five brands with Myer moving up one place to become the 7th most trusted brand in Australia, while Big W and JB Hi-Fi have moved up two places each, to become the 8th and 15th most trusted brands in Australia respectively.
However, there are several brands that have moved in the opposite direction. In a poor quarter for Qantas, the former highly trusted brand has been plagued by perceptions of poor customer service, a large number of flight delays and cancellations, as well as rising airfares.
The national carrier has fallen three places from 6th place to become the 9th most trusted brand. Despite the fall in the rankings, Qantas still records more trust than distrust thanks to a strong base of goodwill and continued strong perceptions of safety.
The ABC has also fallen three places, from the 15th to 18th most trusted brand but like Qantas, has deep reservoirs of trust, meaning it remains much more trusted than distrusted and is still the most trusted media brand by a country mile.
Roy Morgan data scientists analysed nominations from more than 22,000 Australians to identify the nation’s 20 most trusted brands, and 20 most distrusted brands.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says Australia’s leading supermarkets and big retailers have maintained their rankings as Australia’s most trusted brands during the September quarter despite continuing inflation and cost of living concerns and successive RBA interest rate hikes:
“The latest Roy Morgan Net Trust rankings for the year to September 2022 show the impact of the long-running retail boom continuing – although there are emerging signs that next year will finally bring an end to the retail spending binge, at least for some sections of the community.
“The top five most trusted brands in the year to September 2022 were all leading retail brands that have now held the top five positions for four quarters in a row – Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings Warehouse, ALDI and Kmart.
“Outside the top five the big winners were smartphone market leader Apple and a suite of well-known retail brands including department store Myer and discount department store Big W – which all increased their rankings in the top ten most trusted brands.
“The leading brands have managed to leverage their trust during the pandemic, a reputation built on the key pillars of reliability, high levels of service and the quality merchandise that consumers expect, to maintain high levels of trust throughout the last two years.
“However, there are several brands dealing with rising distrust, including Harvey Norman, Shell, TikTok and Pfizer which are all in the top 20 most distrusted brands whereas consistently strong performers such as Qantas and ABC have lost ground with rising distrust – although both are still ranked highly overall.
“For a detailed understanding and insights about what is driving the changing fortunes of key brands, the Roy Morgan webinar on Australia’s most trusted and distrusted brands in September 2022 is recommended viewing with a deep-dive into the Australian retail industry and what the future holds as the bifurcation between different consumers is set to play an increasingly important role heading into 2023.”
Click here to view the Roy Morgan webinar on Australia’s most trusted and distrusted brands in September 2022 with a special focus on retail, including new data on retail forecasts for the pre-Christmas period. Click here for the full webinar report.
The Roy Morgananalysis also reveals the top 20 list of Australia’s most distrusted brands with Harvey Norman entering the top 5 most distrusted brands for the first time, with lingering high levels of distrust stemming from the 2020 JobKeeper scandal proving stubbornly persistent for the retailer.
Multinational oil and gas producer Shell has also become more distrusted, rising four places to become the 12th most distrusted brand in the country, as motorists continue to feel the pinch at the bowser. TikTok jumped eight places on the distrust ladder to become the 13th most distrusted brand, joining fellow social media giants Facebook/Meta (1st) and Twitter (16th) in the top 20 most distrusted brands.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has entered the top 20 most distrusted brands for the first time, rising five places on the distrust ladder to 19th.
Despite occurring too late to be recorded in the September data, early insights suggest the Optus data breach on 22nd September 2022 has had a profound impact on Australian’s distrust of Australia’s second largest telco, which will be reflected from October 2022 onwards.
The top 10 most trusted brands in Australia – September 2022 (Change from June 2022)
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Risk Monitor, October 2021 – September 2022. Key commercial brands with 20+ mentions. Base: Australians 14+; n=22,216.
Roy Morgan Risk Monitor data is made available in a variety of formats, from snapshot overviews to detailed tracking of individual brands and their competitors.
To learn more call (+61) (3) 9224 5309 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.
The latest Risk Report (2022) ranking over 200 brands on Net Trust Scores or Net Distrust Scores is available here.
Click here to view the Roy Morgan webinar on Australia’s most trusted and distrusted brands in September 2022 with a special focus on retail, including new data on retail forecasts for the pre-Christmas period.
Click here for the full webinar report.
The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor surveys approximately 1,800 Australians every month to measure levels of trust and distrust in more than 900 brands across 26 industry sectors. Respondents are asked which brands and companies they trust, and why, and which brand and companies they distrust, and why. The survey is specially designed to be open-ended and context-free, i.e., unprompted.
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 |
