LONDON: Marks & SpencerBoots and Sainsbury's are among the favourite "family brands" in the UK, according to a survey by YouGov, the polling company, and Isobel, the advertising agency.

Based on a survey of 1,500 consumers, the 2009 FamilyBrands report aimed to establish which organisations people regarded as being most "socially responsible", "caring", and "good listeners".

Marks & Spencer, the retailer, took the top spot, ahead of the Co-op, the ethically-focused supermarket, and Boots, the high-street chemists.

Kellogg's, the manufacturer of brands like Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies, was in fourth, with Morrisons, the grocery chain, and Warbuton's bread coming in fifth and sixth respectively.

Andrex toilet tissue, Waitrose, a more premium supermarket, Cadbury, the confectionary giant, and Sainsbury's, another of Britain's biggest supermarkets, closed out the top ten.

Steve Hastings, planning partner at Isobel, said "we tend to choose brands with our emotions. We often invest brands with almost parental, avuncular qualities and responsibilities."

“The recession has focused people on the home and family, giving family-facing brands an advantage in creating emotional links. Retail brands have an advantage in that physical proximity and scale breeds trust and affection."

At the other end of the spectrum, just 1% of the panel regarded Ryanair, the discount air carrier, as delivering on these metrics, making it the lowest-scoring brand overall.

British Midland and BMI Baby, its fellow airlines, were in second and third position among the worst performers, with easyJet also taking ninth place on this list.

Twitter, the microblogging portal, came in fourth, with Royal Bank of Scotland in fifth and Halifax Bank of Scotland in seventh, demonstrating some financial services providers still have some work to do if they are to overcome negative perceptions.

Domino's Pizza and Burger King, the fast food firms, took sixth and eighth in turn, with PlayStation, Sony's games console, in tenth.

Overall, just eight brands received positive scores of more than 10% with regard to whether or not they were perceived as being good listeners, the FamilyBrands report showed.

Data sourced from Daily Telegraph/Marketing Magazine; additional content by Warc staff