Supermarket chains earned the highest level of trust across 20 industries in the 2015 Temkin Trust Ratings. Among the grocers that are most trusted: H-E-B, Publix, Trader Joe’s and Hy-Vee. Costco also ranked in the top 10, though it is considered a retailer—not a supermarket—in the study.
Comcast earned the lowest two spots in the 2015 Temkin Trust Ratings for its TV service and internet service businesses. Also at the bottom of the list are Charter Communications, Coventry Health Care, Time Warner Cable (for both its TV service and internet service businesses), Consolidated Edison of New York, Cox Communications and Spirit Airlines.
“TV service and internet service providers have let down customers so regularly that they’ve fostered an environment of deep mistrust,” said Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.
Additional highlights of the 2015 Temkin Trust Ratings include:
• Only 6 percent of firms earned “excellent” ratings (above 70 percent) and 28 percent earned “good” ratings (60 percent to 70 percent).
• With average 2015 Temkin Trust Ratings of 67 percent, supermarket chains earned the highest level of trust. Three other industries earned “good” ratings: insurance carriers, retailers and parcel delivery services.
• TV service providers (32 percent) and internet service providers (34 percent) earned average scores in the “very poor” range, while wireless carriers (44 percent), health plans (46 percent) and utilities (49 percent) earned average scores in the “poor” range.
• Three companies earned ratings that were 21 points above their industry averages: USAA (credit cards), credit unions (banks) and TriCare (health plans). Seven other companies are more than 15 points above their industry averages: USAA (banks), Georgia Power (utilities), JetBlue (airlines), Optimum (internet service), Kaiser Permanente (health plans), USAA (insurance) and Chick-fil-A (fast foods).
• Eight companies are more than 15 points below their industry averages: Spirit Airlines (airlines), Coventry Health Care (health plans), Consolidated Edison of New York (utilities), 21st Century (insurance), RadioShack (retailers), Citibank (banks), United Airlines (airlines) and Bi-Lo (supermarkets).
• Led by Residence Inn’s improvement of 22 points between 2014 and 2015, 41 percent of the firms that were in both years ratings improved by at least 1 point. Five other firms gained more than 15 points over the previous year: Qwest, Hyatt, Panda Express, HSBC and Holiday Inn Express.
• Forty-three percent of firms dropped at least one point between 2014 and 2015, with Coventry Health Care dropping the most (21 points). Five other firms lost 15 or more points between 2014 and 2015: Health Net, Cox Communications, BMW, Advantage RAC and TD Ameritrade.
Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, the 2015 Temkin Trust Ratings rates the trust that consumers have with 293 companies across 20 industries.
