The 10 most trusted brands—and where TikTok stands with Gen Z

Brands continue to face an uphill battle gaining trust from Gen Z—but social media platforms TikTok and Snapchat have managed to win over the younger consumers, according to a new report. Morning Consult’s Most Trusted Brands 2024 report, released today, shows that across all generations, Band-Aid, UPS, Google, Lysol, Dove, Amazon, Colgate, Kleenex, Home Depot and the U.S. Postal Service are the most trusted brands. The most trusted brands in the U.S. Ordered by net trust (the share who trust minus the share who distrust) Rank Brand Net trust score 1 Band-Aid 60.6 2 UPS 57.2 3 Google 54.5 4 Lysol 54.3 5 Dove 54.2 6 Amazon 53.9 7 Colgate 53.6 8 Kleenex 53.6 9 The Home Depot 52.6 United States Postal Service 52.6 11 Tylenol 52.4 12 Clorox 52.0 13 The Weather Channel 51.8 Visa 51.8 15 Lowe's 51.5 16 FedEx 51.3 17 M&M's 51.1 18 Walgreens 50.9 19 Cheerios 50.6 20 CVS Pharmacy 50.5 21 Campbell's Soup 50.3 22 Heinz Ketchup 50.1 23 Vaseline 50.0 24 Reese's 49.7 25 Ace Hardware 49.3 Source: Morning Consult Intelligence Also read: The 10 most valuable brands in 2024 TikTok, Snapchat, Spotify, Twitch and Discord were singled out as “standout brands” for Gen Z, meaning they had a considerably higher trust score with the coveted cohort born between the late 1990s and early 2010s compared with other generations. “Gen Z has a desire to build community and I think those gaming platforms help to foster that,” said Amy He, head of industry analysis at Morning Consult. The report was based on surveys of between 1,158 and 35,280 U.S. adults, depending on the brand. The brands were ranked by a net trust score, calculated by the share of adults who trust the brand minus the share who distrust. Also read: Dating apps have a Gen Z problem The report found that Gen Z’s average net trust score for all brands was more than 10 points lower than other generations, similar to last year’s report. “Part of that is being at a certain life stage where they are more anti-establishment, but I think that is any generation when they are young,” He said. “It’s not just brands where we see less trust with Gen Z. It’s all institutions—the media, government, corporate America, Hollywood. Gen Z has just been exposed less to brands.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs See last year’s trusted brands here. TikTok scored a 20.5 with Gen Zers, but -3.3 with other adults. That is good news for the social platform, which continues to fight a move by U.S. politicians to ban the app here unless it is divested by is Chinese owners, whose control of the app has critics fearing TikTok poses a risk to U.S. national security. TikTok was also considered a standout brand among millennials along with Bitcoin, Meta, WWE and Red Bull. Facebook (which is owned by Meta) and Snapchat also scored well with millennials. "The concerns that Congress has voiced about TikTok over data privacy or the company’s ties to China are not necessarily the most pressing worries that younger Americans have with the platform," said He. "And we know from reporting that TikTok users have been very active in voicing their opposition to the potential ban, which has apparently been counterproductive in terms of slowing down Congress’s push. At the end of the day, Gen Z’s higher trust in TikTok may not move the needle significantly." Gaming-related companies also seem to have earned Gen Z trust, with Xbox, Epic Games and Playstation also making the list. Fenty Beauty and Anastasia Beverly Hills also scored well with the generation. Band-Aid took the top slot for the third year in a row, despite the recent release of a report that alleged the presence of so-called forever chemicals in Band-Aids and other adhesive bandage brand products. The report was commissioned by Environmental Health News and consumer watchdog Mamavation. The report came out a few weeks before Band-Aid ran a campaign featuring actress Skai Jackson, who recreated a Band-Aid commercial she starred in when she was a child. “The health and safety of the people who use our products is our top priority. We are reviewing the conclusions outlined in the report and committed to using our science to ensure our products have the best quality ingredients,” a spokesperson for Band-Aid’s parent company Kenvue previously told Ad Age. Even though the report was published during Morning Consult’s survey, it shows how strong consumer trust can help brands weather rough patches. “That topic did come up, but even if the perception of the brand was impacted, the strength of the Band-Aid brand is so strong with consumers,” said He. “It would have to be a pretty bad scenario for consumers to change. Brands often forget that it takes more than a few headlines to impact consumers' habits.” Gen X and baby boomers For Gen Xers, several packaged goods brands were classified as standouts, including Bush’s Beans, Palmolive, General Mills, Ore-Ida and Cottonelle, which all outperformed with Gen X compared with other generations. Standout brands for baby boomers included Procter & Gamble, Nabisco, Vlasic, Newman’s Own and Ore-Ida. “I think this trust becomes more common as you age,” said He. “At a certain life stage, your day-to-day is a lot of exposure to CPG brands, and they are targeting you. There is also a ubiquity about food brands—the more you interact with them, the more loyal you become. Gen Z and millennials are more open to trying new brands.” 40 under 40 entries are open The final deadline for nominations is Aug. 2 Enter here Men vs women The report found that men trusted Honda motorcycles, SpaceX, Dewalt, Intel and Nvidia more than women. Men also seem to trust X (formerly Twitter) more than other adults, but not by much—men’s net trust for X was 2.6 while all adults gave it -2.6. X tied with Red Bull and UFC for the 15th spot among men. Women, on the other hand, had much higher trust for beauty brands, over-indexing with CoverGirl, Maybelline, e.l.f., L’Oréal, and Ulta Beauty. They also trust Pinterest more, giving it a 42 compared to 32 for all adults. “It’s important to look at these in the context of the data,” He said. “Men’s net trust number for X was already pretty low. For women and Pinterest, I do think a lot of the topics that dominate Pinterest are geared towards women—planning trips, home renovations, wedding planning. Remember that Gen Z and millennials over-indexed with social platforms by double-digits.”

The 10 most trusted brands—and where TikTok stands with Gen Z

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