NEW YORK – Harris Poll has announced the results of its recent 2014 Harris Poll EquiTrend® (EQ) study, which measures brand equity for more than 1,500 brands across 170 categories, based on three key factors of brand equity: familiarity, quality and purchase.

For the first time in the study's 26-year history, Americans were surveyed about grocery retailers on a regional level using the four census regions (West, Midwest, Northeast and South). And according to the results, traditional grocery store brands rank highest overall in three of the four regions surveyed. 

A mix of grocery retailer formats was included in the study, including traditional grocery stores (e.g. Kroger, Giant), mass retailers with grocery sections (e.g. Walmart, Target), discount grocery stores (e.g. Aldi, Food 4 Less) and club stores with grocery sections (e.g. Sam's Club, Costco), as well as the specialty grocers Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets.  The study awards Brand of the Year status to regionally focused, traditional grocery store brands in the Midwest, Northeast and South regions.  "These stores put an emphasis on building a relationship with the customer and it's paid off with positive brand equity," said Michael Treboni, executive vice president of retail professional services at Nielsen, in a press release. 

The only non-traditional grocer in the top spot, Costco is Brand of the Year in the West region, where the retailer has half of its U.S. retail outlets. In America's heartland, consumers name Hy-Vee as the Midwest Grocery Store Brand of the Year.  While not among the most Familiar brands for the region, consumers who are familiar with the brand give strong marks for quality and purchase consideration. In the Northeast, Wegmans is Brand of the Year in the Grocery Store category.  With about 80 stores, most located in New York and Pennsylvania, Wegmans has a smaller footprint than many competitors in the region. Stretching from Texas to Florida and up the east coast to Maryland, the South region is a sprawling patchwork of grocery retailers, and Publix is its Grocery Store Brand of the Year for 2014. 

When looking across the four regions, it is worth noting that both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets are the only national brands to rank above the category average in all four regions, with consistently strong quality and purchase consideration scores.  This echoes findings from the 2012 Nielsen Store Choice Drivers study, which focused on identifying store characteristics that help build equity with shoppers.