Morning Consult Reveals The Most Trusted Brands of 2020

The United States Postal Service, Amazon and Google rank as the top three most trusted brands in the country, with four food companies ranking in the Top 10: Chik-Fil-A, Hershey, Cheerios, and M&M’s. This according to the inaugural Most Trusted Brands report from data intelligence company Morning Consult. 

The report features an average of 16,700 interviews per brand for nearly 2,000 brands and showcases brand trust by generation. "It's no secret that trust is key to brand success," said Morning Consult CEO Michael Ramlet. "In today's climate, every single day presents leaders with the opportunity to cultivate reliability - a key driver of trust."

Tech and consumer and packaged goods (CPG) brands dominate the list, but the United States Postal Service takes the top spot. Amazon, Google, PayPal, and The Weather Channel round out the top five. Nearly half of the top 25 spots, however, are claimed by CPG brands.

With tech soaring among younger generations and older generations embrace legacy brands, Google and Amazon are among the top-performing brands with Gen Z and millennials, while USPS is No. 1 with Gen X and boomers. Netflix overperforms with younger generations, and The Hershey Company among older Americans; Nike's Kaepernick gamble pays off with Gen Z as the apparel brand is the seventh most trusted brand among Gen Z consumers, but CPG brands perform better among older generations, dominating more than two-thirds of the Most Trusted Brands among Gen X and boomers, half of millennials, and less than one-third of Gen Z consumers.

The Most Trusted Brands of 2020 report also includes an examination of how today's societal forces are shaping a new era of trust:

• Distrust is rippling through the country, especially for concentrations of power. Today, less than 25% of Americans have “a lot” of trust in their neighbors or food labels; less than 10% say the same about the news media or the U.S. government; and just 4% put a lot of trust in Wall Street or Hollywood.
• But most major brands have maintained high levels of confidence from consumers: 75% of Americans trust the average major company to deliver on promises. Top performing brands, including Google and Amazon, are more well-trusted than any major institution, except the military.
• There also is a generational challenge facing brands. Younger consumers are generally more skeptical of corporate America and hold brands to higher ethical standards; they are more distrusting of brands across the board. For Gen Z, the average brand trust rating was +10, compared to +21 for boomers.

The Most Trusted Brands of 2020 is powered by Morning Consult's Brand Intelligence platform. Visit Morning Consult for the full report