Tradition creates trust

For the 16th time, the media and marketing company Reader's Digest conducted the representative survey of Swiss consumers. Whether it's Raiffeisen among banks, Die Mobiliar among insurance companies, Ricola among sweets, Bico among mattresses or Coop among gas stations - the trust once established remains. Nivea, the most popular brand in the "cosmetics" category for many years, was also able to defend its title as Most Trusted Brand. A brand steeped in tradition copes with a scandal In the "automobiles" category, VW has once again replaced last year's winner Toyota at the top. Despite last year's emissions scandal, the Swiss remain loyal to the traditional German company. It is clear that a strong brand is a longer-term investment. In household and kitchen appliances, the domestic brand V-Zug defended its leading position.

Even in a difficult economic situation - as a result of the strength of the Swiss franc - foreign brands have a hard time winning the trust of Swiss consumers. "These results clearly show that it pays for a company to invest in the trust of its own customers in the longer term," says Urs Anderegg, Business Manager of Reader's Digest Switzerland. "Entrepreneurs who plan for the long term can use their brand to gain a decisive competitive advantage over the competition, especially in economically turbulent times."

Differences between young and old?

In addition to the already well-known winners, however, there are also new winners. The Swedish textile retailer H&M beat Charles Vögele as the new Most Trusted Brand in the "Apparel" category. Although H&M primarily appeals to the 18-39 age group, those over 60 also feel close to the brand. In other categories, too, there are no significant differences in perceived closeness to a brand between younger and older participants, even if for many the trust already established in a brand grows with advancing age.

To the "Most Trusted Brands" study by Reader's Digest

"Most Trusted Brands" is an independent study and has been measuring consumer brand trust annually since 2001. It is one of the most established and largest consumer studies, is a pioneer for other studies of this kind and is recognized as a brand monitor. The approach of asking the brand question unprompted, i.e. without any brand specification, remains unique. Consumers alone reveal which trusted brand is at the top of their list. The 1,800 people Reader's Digest surveyed in Switzerland this year named a total of 1931 different brands that they personally consider particularly trustworthy.