Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands in Canada Revealed for 2017

A new Ipsos survey for Reader’s Digest has unveiled which brands Canadians trust most in a variety of categories, from banks to sunscreen to cars. The annual survey asks Canadians on an open-ended basis which brands they trust most in a number of different categories. If a brand receives a statistically significant higher number of mentions than any other brand, they are deemed to be the most trusted brand.

Some of the winning brands include:

Food and Beverage

• Bottled Water: Nestlé

Consumer Packaged Goods

• Sunscreen: Coppertone
• Interior Paint: Behr

Medical

• Arthritis Pain Reliever: Tylenol
• Headache Pain Reliever: Tylenol
• Vitamin: Jamieson

Auto

• Passenger Car Manufacturer: Toyota
• Automotive Parts Retailer: Canadian Tire
• Hybrid Car Manufacturer: Toyota

Financial

• Bank/Trust Company: TD Canada Trust
• Life Insurance Company: Sun Life Financial

Retail

• Coffee Retailer: Tim Horton’s
• Pharmacy/Drug Store: Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix
• Beauty Retailer: Sephora

A full list of the winning brands can be found at rd.ca/trusted-brands/winners-list

Trust as a Driving Force

For brands in an increasingly competitive market, consumer trust is a highly valuable asset that can translate into greater sales. While half (49%) of Canadians admit to buying items based solely on their price (10% strongly/39% somewhat), nine in ten (93%) agree (40% strongly/53% somewhat) that in a situation where a product or service’s quality and price are similar, they tend to buy the product or service from the company they trust more.

Similarly, nearly as many (91%) agree (40% strongly/50% somewhat) they’re more likely to invest their money in a company they trust, and eight in ten (81%) agree (23% strongly/58% somewhat) they’ll pay a little more money to support a product or service from a trusted company than from a company they don’t trust.

Trust can also impact brand visibility, with more than eight in ten (86%) Canadians agreeing (28% strongly/58% somewhat) they pay more attention to companies they trust than to companies they don’t. Advertising from a trusted source is also more likely to stick with consumers: three in four (77%) agree (21% strongly/56% somewhat) they’re more likely to remember ads from companies or brands that they trust.

Brand trust conferred from respected outside sources is also important to a majority of Canadians. Six in ten (63%) agree (9% strongly/53% somewhat) they trust third-party recognition of products and services, such as awards or seals of excellence.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 9 and September 16, 2016, on behalf of Reader’s Digest. For this survey, a sample of 4,009 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online, including 956 French-speaking respondents.