New Most Trusted Brand in 2012 Reader's Digest Survey

Porirua based chocolate maker Whittaker’s has been voted New Zealand’s most trusted brand in the annual Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Survey; released today in the August issue of Reader’s Digest New Zealand.

Whittaker’s moved up three places to top the 2012 list, knocking last year’s number one, St John’s, to number two. Iconic cooking and baking goods brand Edmonds made an impressive debut at number three, while Dettol fell from two to eight.

The eighth annual Trust Survey confirms some solid favourite category brands, as Sony and Fisher & Paykel have topped their categories (electronics and whitegoods, respectively) since the Survey began in 2005.

OVERALL MOST TRUSTED BRANDS (last year’s position in brackets):

1) Whittaker's (3)
2) St John (1)
3) Edmonds (n/a)
4) Wattie's (4)
5) Sanitarium (8)
6) Tip Top (bread) (5)
7) Lemon & Paeroa (L&P) (10)
8) Dettol (2)
9) Toyota (9)
10) Colgate (7)

CATEGORIES:

Category	Winner	Highly Commended
NZ Iconic Brands	Watties	Whittakers
Banks	KiwiBank	ASB
Breakfast Food	Sanitarium	Kellogg's
Car Brands	Toyota	Ford
Cleaning Products	Dettol	Jif
Confectionery	Whittaker’s	Nestle
DIY Power Tools	Stihl	Black & Decker
Dry Foods	Sanitarium	Tip Top
Electronics	Sony	Panasonic
Fast Food	Subway	McDonalds
Frozen Food	Watties	Bird's Eye
Gardening Equipment	Masport	Stihl
Home Improvement Stores	Mitre 10	Bunnings
Hotel/Motel Accommodation	Copthorne	Millennium
Insurance Providers	AA Insurance	Southern Cross
Kitchen Appliances	Breville	Kenwood
Packaged Foods	Watties	Sanitarium
Pain Relief	Panadol	Nurofen
Paint Brands	Resene	Dulux
Pet Food Brands	Whiskas	Purina One
Retail Brands	Farmers	NZ Post
Supermarket Brands	Countdown	PaknSave
Toiletries & Cosmetics	Colgate	Dove
Vitamins & Supplements	Healtheries	Blackmores
Whitegoods	Fisher & Paykel	Samsung

METHODOLOGY

The annual Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey showcases the products and services New Zealanders have chosen to make their lives easier and more pleasurable.

Reader’s Digest commissioned Catalyst Research to survey a national representative sample of New Zealanders about brands in 2012.

A pre-poll qualitative scoping study was conducted in December 2011 to assist in selecting the key brands to measure in the main survey. The second stage of the study was conducted in January 2012. Participants were asked to name their most Trusted Brands in 25 categories of products and services across a wide range of industries. In this phase, 1214 New Zealanders completed an on-line questionnaire. We asked survey participants to give a trust scale of 1-10 to a list of 168 brands. Population-weighting factors were incorporated to ensure the statistical accuracy of the results.

Once again the 2012 results of this annual poll reveal a fascinating, informative and up-to-the-moment picture of consumer confidence in New Zealand.