Bunnings still Australia’s most trusted brand but distrust is rising

Bunnings legendary reputation could take a hit, with the latest Roy Morgan Brand Trust report revealing rising consumer distrust in the home improvement giant.

Bunnings reputation is suffering as allegations of inflated prices and stifling competition impact brand trust metrics. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Bunnings has maintained its position as Australia’s most trusted brand, however consumer distrust in its market dominance and profit motives is growing, according to the latest Roy Morgan Brand Trust findings.

The Roy Morgan Risk Lab March 2025 Quarterly update revealed that the retailers’ “legendary reputation” trust has been declining for the hardware giant for some time, well before the March quarter and the recent Four Corners investigation, which reported allegations of bullying and stifling of competition by the home improvement giant.

Social scientist Dr Rob Honeywell said, “Over the past two years Bunnings has experienced a noticeable increase in distrust particularly around concerns about the company’s size and market dominance, excessive profit motives, unaffordable price increases and dishonesty.”

Research from Roy Morgan revealed consumers increasing trust issues with Bunnings began to rise in 2020.

The findings revealed very little change among the most trusted and least trusted brands, with the top five brands in both categories unchanged.

Bunnings, Aldi, Kmart, Apple and Toyota are top for trust, while Woolworths, Coles, Optus, Facebook/Meta and Qantas are the top five most distrusted brands.

However, others were not so fortunate.

The ABC dropped out of the top 20 most trusted brands for the first time, the brand has plummeted 66 per cent in trust ratings since Covid.

Conversely, NAB has undergone a surge in trust leaping 112 places to become the 48th most trusted brand and BHP also bolstered its trust score jumping 93 places to 66th place.

The Roy Morgan Risk Lab Trust & Distrust March 2025 Quarterly Update reveals green shoots for Qantas, Optus, Woolworths and Coles as the brands slowly begin to rebuild consumer trust.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia continued to boost its trust score, rising 4 places to 12th position as it edges closer to a top ten position.

However, at the other end of the scale, News Corp, Tik Tok, Nestle and Harvey Norman all experienced small bumps in trust, while Google, Shein and Tesla continue to erode consumer trust.

Dr Honeywell said, “Distrust is a force with real financial reputational and competitive consequences. Distrust weakens a brand and that’s critical because everyone measures trust.”

The findings revealed green shoots for Woolworths and Coles as the supermarket giants battle to regain consumer trust. There are also positive signs for Qantas and Optus with both brands consumer trust rankings improving. “There is still a long way to go,” warns Dr Honeywell.