To trust or not to trust - Consumers trust German products the most, Chinese ones the least
From the artisanal workshops of Italy to the high-tech factories of China, the world is a vast marketplace. In this article, we’re exploring whether consumers’ trust in brands and products vary depending on their source of origin.
A recent YouGov survey asked consumers across 17 international markets about their level of trust in brands/products from different regions. Survey results shows that nearly half of all consumers across markets say they trust brands/products from Germany a lot (48%), followed by Japan (45%) and the United Kingdom (36%) - mirroring data from a 2021 YouGov Survey on the same topic.
Safe to say, legacy brands that trace their origins to these regions (read: Volkswagen, Bosch or Puma from Germany, Honda, Sony or Asahi from Japan, Marks & Spencer, Philips or Guinness from the UK, to name a few) contribute to positive trust levels from consumers.
As for regions whose brands/products consumers trust a little bit, the US leads (48%), followed by France (46%) and the UK (45%).
Consumers across markets are most likely to cite China (44%), followed by India (39%) when asked about regions whose brands/products they do not trust at all.
Exploring consumer distrust towards brands/products by market
India
Hong Kongers (61%) are the most likely across markets to say they do not trust brands/products from India. Spanish (56%) and French (55%) follow Hong Kongers. More than a third of Brits (35%) do not trust Indian brands/products as well.
Further, 3% of Indians do not trust brands/products from their home ground.
China
Indians (62%) lead across markets in saying they distrust Chinese products and brands, followed by the French (60%). Similar proportions of Americans (47%) and Brits (46%) share this opinion.
On the other hand, Indonesians are the least likely across markets (15%) to say they distrust Chinese brands/products.
United Kingdom
Consumers in France (13%) and Germany (13%) are the most likely to express distrust in brands/products originating from the UK. In Asia, Hong Kongers (7%) and Indians (7%) say the same.
As for Brits, 4% of them do not trust UK’s brands/products.
United States of America
French lead yet again, with 21% saying they do not trust brands/products from the US, followed by Hong Kongers (16%), Germans (15%), Spanish (14%) and Britons (14%). Although the least likely to across markets, 4% of Americans do not trust brands/products native to the US.
Japan
French (20%), Germans (15%) and Hong Kongers (13%) are the top three groups of respondents across markets to distrust Japanese products and brands the most. Indonesians (1%) and Singaporeans (2%) are least likely to.
Germany
Similar proportions of Poles (9%) and French (8%) say they have no trust in brands/products from Germany. In Asia, Indians (5%) take the lead while a similar proportion of Germans themselves (4%) do not trust German products.
France
Consumers in the UAE (12%), Poland (11%) and Spain (10%) distrust French brands/products the most, while Danes (3%) are least likely to - a single point lead over the proportion of French consumers (4%) who don’t trust brands/products from their homeland.
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 511 and 2054 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in June 2024. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.
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