Methodology and Approach for RD Trusted Brand 2026

For the past 28 years, the Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands survey has identified the brands that command the highest levels of consumer trust in India. Over the years, the study has established itself as a premier, consumer-led and internationally recognised measure of brand trust and preference. The survey seeks to identify the brands Indians trust the most – brands that consistently deliver on their promises, meet consumer needs, offer quality, and maintain a strong and positive image. This year, Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), a premier research organisation with extensive expertise in research, rankings and ratings across diverse domains, conducted the Trusted Brands (TBs) of India Survey across 35 product categories.

The study was administered in the following phases –

Listing of Categories & Brands – An extensive desk review of MDRA’s database and potential sources of reliable data was conducted by an experienced team of researchers. 35 prominent and most relevant product categories were selected for the consumer survey. Brands within these categories were researched, listed, and deliberated with the research and editorial team. These brands were then used as Show cards during the survey. The list of product categories is as follows –

Brand Trust parameters and their weights – Brand’s trust was assessed on the following 4 parameters. The relative weights of the parameters were finalized using OLS regression method –

• Reliability and Quality – Consistent Performance, higher perceived quality
• Value Proposition – Purchase cost, maintenance, and usage cost
• Usability and/or need fulfilment – Adequate features and ability to fulfil needs
• Recommend & Repurchase – Recommending brands to others and re-purchase when needed

The weights were derived for each product category and accordingly were used to arrive at the final weighted score.

Field survey – Looking at the broad objectives of the study, a stringent sampling procedure was required to be followed. To adhere to this, MDRA has used its unique sampling design process throughout the sampling process of this study based on its 3 ‘S’ sampling criteria. The 3 ‘S’ stand for –

• Size of the sample
• Spread of the sample
• Selection of respondents

The respondents have been selected randomly to prevent any bias creeping into the sample. A structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents by experienced and trained investigators of MDRA through quantitative face-to-face and Telephonic interviews.

The survey was conducted among 3165 purchase decision-makers across Socio-Economic Class A (SEC-A) in 19 cities geographically spread across India. During the survey, respondents were asked to select top-5 brands in selected categories and rate brands on a 4-parameter basis their knowledge, experience, and perception on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = Very Poor and 10 = Excellent. Further, respondents were asked to show their awareness level w.r.t the top-5 selected brands on the following lines –

• I am aware of this brand and know little about it
• I am aware of this brand & know it quite well
• I am well aware of this brand and have used it

Brand Trust – Trust Score was arrived at by taking the weighted mean of the ratings on all 4 parameters. In addition, brand trust based on awareness level and usage experience has been given higher weightage than those based solely on perception or little knowledge. Awareness level scores were multiplied by the final weighted trust scores to arrive at Brand Trust.

A large research team led by Abhishek Agrawal (CEO), Abnish Jha (Sr. Project Director), Vaibhav Gupta (Research Manager), Janhavi Kesharwani (Research Executive) and Manveer Singh (Assistant Manager - EDP); assisted by statisticians and econometricians, worked on this study in July and August 2026.

Statistical Significance

We have followed a multistage sampling: at the first stage, any major factors that could cause sampling errors have been controlled through an appropriate selection process. The respondents were randomly chosen. This is an adaptation of queuing theory where randomization is built into the system. Above all, the total sample size achieved was 3165, and this number is sufficiently high to ensure that the overall sampling error is low.

In view of the above, the confidence level is 95% with a ±1.74% margin of error.

Note: All percentages in output tables have been rounded off to one decimal place, which may result in rounding errors when adding the total percentage.