The grocer’s and banks’ reputations plummet in the face of high inflation and interest rates

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According to a new report, grocers and banks have taken a hit to their reputations this year as Canadians continue to cope with high inflation and interest rates amid an economic downturn.

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According to a Leger Marketing Inc. survey released on April 5, grocery store reputation scores fell an average of four points from a year earlier, while the banking and credit sector fell an average of three points after holding steady in 2022.

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High prices are probably the reason for the depreciation.

“Inflation is clearly the upper hand,” said Shanze Khan, senior research director at the market research firm. “(These sectors) reported pretty sizeable gains and I feel like it’s a bit harder to swallow (for consumers) at a time like what we’re going through right now, with the fiscal climate being what it is. .”

Leger’s annual report, which assesses the reputation of national companies, is based on Canadians’ perception of brands. It applies a score ranging from negative 100 to 100, with a perfect 100 indicating that each respondent knows the brand and has a good opinion of it, while the opposite is true for a perfect negative score. Ranking is an important metric for companies, some of which base business strategy decisions on reports from the data, said Lisa Covens, senior vice president at Leger.

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This year, Canadian-owned banks and grocers failed to crack the top 40 brands from the 299 companies selected for the report. Among the Big Six banks, Royal Bank of Canada ranked highest at 87, followed by Toronto-Dominion Bank at 96. The rest ranked between 102 and 108, with the exception of National Bank of Canada, which was ranked #1 landed. 155

In the food sector, Empire Co. Ltd. ranked Sobeys Inc. at No. 43, but other major grocers like Loblaw Cos. ltd and Metro Inc. did not qualify as national brands because they do not do business in some provinces. Still, Leger surveyed people in regions where these companies do business and found that upscale grocers’ reputation scores were declining while value-based banners’ scores were improving. Loblaw’s score fell 11 points from last year, and Metro lost four points. But the reputation score of Food Basics, a Metro discount brand, rose four points.

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American retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. cracked the top 10 this year at No. 9, but so did Montreal-based Dollarama Inc. at No. 7. These companies’ rise to the top 10 reflects the changing macro environment and needs of Canadians. said Covens. For example, Canadian Tire Corp. ltd Took first place in 2021 as people struggled to weather the pandemic, but fell to No. 5 this year as life largely returned to normal. “We’ve all been trying to organize our homes and buy outdoor heaters, all the things trying to make the pandemic fun or practical,” she said of Canadian Tire’s 2021 appearance.

This year’s top 10 companies suggest Canadians are looking for more value as inflation tops 5 percent and the Bank of Canada’s policy rate is 4.5 percent, a change from the near-zero interest rates seen in the first year the norm was two years of pandemic. According to a September Leger poll, Canadians are feeling the effects of tighter economic conditions, and two in five Canadians are living paycheck to paycheck.

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Prior to the pandemic, Google had long ranked first from Alphabet Inc. and returned to the top spot this year. Meanwhile, Campbell Soup Co. ranked 10th on the list, another indication that Canadians are turning to budget brands to deal with higher prices. “That says a lot about how the economy is doing right now,” Khan said.

Leger conducted the survey between November 22 and January 25 with a sample of approximately 2,100 respondents. The survey has an error rate of plus or minus 2.1 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval.

Below is the list of the 10 most reputable brands in 2023:

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