Every marketer talks about building an authentic relationship with their consumers, and trust is an underlying part of that relationship. A recent report highlights which brands consumers find the most trustworthy, and why it’s difficult for brands to build trust with Gen Z.

In the U.S., the top 10 most trusted brands are Band-Aid, UPS, Amazon, Lysol, Kleenex, Cheerios, Visa, Dove, The Weather Channel and FedEx, according to Morning Consult’s Most Trusted Brands 2023 report, which surveyed 799 to 8,434 U.S. adults, depending on the brand. 

The report also found that Gen Z was less likely than the rest of the population to say that they trust brands to do what is right. 

Related: 20 brands catching Gen Z's attention

“We see that Gen Z as a whole has less trust in government institutions, corporations, and brands in general,” said Nicki Zink, industry analyst team lead at Morning Consult. “Gen Z also wants brands to have strong political and ethical values, such as treating employees fairly.”

Gen Z consumers, who are between 11 and 26 years old, have not had as long a relationship with brands to build up trust. “A big part of building brand trust is frequency and use,” said Zink. “So as Gen Z ages and uses brands more, we expect brands to gain trust.”

Younger consumers typically get to know brands more intimately on social media, but are often skeptical of marketing efforts, which may come off to them as performative or tone-deaf. For example, when Amazon's Prime debuted on TikTok with a video featuring Jason Derulo, viewers instead flooded the comments about Amazon giving their warehouse workers a livable wage. (The account responded with a cheeky video of a person dressed up in Prime boxes reviewing the first video and stating “Realizing we’re just a corporate account in the comments.”)

According to the report, there are a few brands that could do more to appeal to Gen Z, including Microsoft.  

Despite being the fourth most trusted technology brand in the report, many Gen Zers have come to associate Microsoft with work. Younger consumers typically first use Google products for high school work or for their first email, and then a form of Gmail when they get to college. For some, the first time they have to work with Microsoft on a daily basis is at their first office job. 

“This speaks to that need for frequent usage,” said Zink. She suggested that Microsoft could make that personal-to-office software transition easier.

The Weather Channel, on the other hand, is a brand that could try to lean into social issues to attract Gen Z. The brand is frequently used, of course, but the report highlights that it could license its climate change-focused documentaries to major streamers as a way to reach younger consumers who may be interested in caring for the planet. (The Weather Channel does have a weekday show called Pattrn that looks at climate change, extreme weather and sustainable living.)

There are a few brands that seem to have won Gen Z’s trust. For instance, Chipotle earned younger consumers trust when it turned a viral TikTok quesadilla hack into a menu item. Little Caesars Pizza also has earned the trust of Gen Z through a partnership with Mtn Dew and Call of Duty that gave gamers unique codes for in-game boosts. Fenty Beauty got a boost from Rihanna performing at the Super Bowl and reminded fans that it had new products that address a wider variety of skin tones.

As for the top 10 most trusted brands spanning all generations, Band-Aid, UPS, Lysol, Visa, Cheerios and The Weather Channel made the list for the second straight year while Clorox, CVS, Colgate and Home Depot did not make the list this time around.

Johns Hopkins, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Princeton were the top trusted universities for this year.