A new study by research firm Millward Brown indicates that Amazon.com is the most trusted brand in the U.S. Others in the top five include FedEx, Downey, Huggies and Tide. Interestingly, the study also placed Toyota in the top 10, an the researchers note that the results were compiled before the recent issues arose with the car maker's numerous recalls.

Amazon.com's chief rival, Wal-Mart, did not make an appearance in the top 10. Amazon did encounter some consumer backlash last year after the company deleted copies of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" from the Kindle electronic reading device.

It more recently found itself in a spat with publishers and authors over the pricing of electronic books.

But over the years, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has almost religiously spoken of the importance of focusing on the customer.

Amazon was given a TrustR score of 123, just one point above FedEx. Millward Brown CEO Eileen Campbell explained theTrustR score this way.

"The 'TrustR' metric is very relevant in a global economy that is struggling to emerge from a gloomy recessionary period. Consumers are less likely to spend hard-earned money on brands that they don't trust. In fact, we found that the number one "TrustR" brand in each of the 22 countries we researched was nearly seven times more likely to be purchased and consumers were 10 times more likely to have formed a strong bond with these brands," said Campbell.