April 30, 2026
By: Erica Grieder, Staff Writer, Houston Chronicle
Full Article Link: Houston Chronicle
While Texans are known for a well-developed sense of state pride, a new survey suggests that Texas-based brands that embrace their roots and consistently invest in their communities can see a significant impact on their bottom line.
Fully 86% of Texas consumers strongly identify with Texas identity and culture, according to polling by LSG, a communications and public affairs agency headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a Texas office in The Woodlands. They carry their Texas swagger with them when shopping: If forced to choose, 40% trust Texas brands most, compared with 12% who have the most confidence in national brands.
Their trust pays off: 72% of respondents said they prioritize reliability and trust over finding the lowest price. Even with cost-of-living pressures top of mind for many Texas families, 83% of respondents said they would be willing to pay more for a brand they trust, with two-thirds saying they would be willing to pay up to 15% more.
LSG also asked respondents for their opinions about 18 brands headquartered in the state, including Southwest Airlines, Dell, Tesla and Landry’s, headquartered in Houston. The results will likely come as no surprise.
H-E-B is the top brand in Texas, with fully 92% of respondents expressing a favorable view of the San Antonio grocer. Whataburger, another San Antonio company, came in second, with 87% favorability, followed by Blue Bell and Buc-ee’s, which tied for third with 86% of respondents having a positive view of those brands.
“There’s a lot of pride behind Texas brands, and a lot of trust behind them,” said Scott Castleman, head of LSG’s Texas office. “I think that’s not something you can just do with advertising and offerings in your store, but it is built over decades of being a part of these communities, and being there for good times and bad.”
“I think these are brands that are consistently showing up for consumers over time,” agreed Amy McMillan, senior vice president in the Texas office. “It’s not just slap a cowboy boot and a flag on it and call it Texan.”
The agency surveyed 1,500 consumers in Austin, Dallas and Houston, in late February and early March. The three cities, along with Fort Worth and San Antonio, anchor the “Texas Triangle” megaregion that is home to more than 70% of the state’s population.
Most of the 18 brands were viewed favorably, at least among the respondents familiar with them. Just 37% of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of CenterPoint Energy, for example, but 61% of respondents in Houston, where the utility is headquartered, view it positively.
LSG also asked respondents about topics including growth, affordability and infrastructure, and found that while 60% of Texas respondents feel the state’s population is growing too fast, they have a “solutions-oriented” attitude to that growth. When asked about developments that would most improve quality of life in Texas, affordable housing, transportation infrastructure and energy infrastructure topped the list.
“There absolutely is a clear result that folks do feel some anxiety that the region is developing too much, too fast, but that is not absent solutions,” said Tom Rodriguez, executive vice president and research project leader for LSG. “Folks readily gave us a clear roadmap here in the data of exactly what they want to see in order to alleviate those concerns.”
Rodriguez added that Houston respondents, in particular, stand out as supporting new energy infrastructure projects such as data centers: 53% of respondents in the region said they would support such projects in their neighborhood, compared to 43% of respondents in Dallas.
“There’s always going to be questions and concerns as we look at building out infrastructure and growing,” Castleman said. “But I do think there is a natural inclination for the Houston communities to want to find a way to get it done.”
“I would layer on to that to say Houstonians know what it’s like to live without power,” McMillan added.
One particular concern was echoed by Texans in all three cities: Californians. More than half of respondents said that the state is less affordable than it was two years ago, and 71% said they believe migration from California specifically has contributed to rising housing costs in Texas. (“Please be honest,” LSG said in its survey question on this topic.)
While domestic migrants may be having an impact on housing costs in the Texas Triangle, however, the survey suggested that the brands longtime Texans trust so highly are helping them adapt to the local culture as they settle in. More than half of the recent transplants who participated in the survey said that they began feeling connected to Texas brands within a year of making the move.