Kolkata, Feb 1 (IANS) Nokia, Samsung and Tata lead the list of the most trusted brands in the country's eastern region, according to the latest "Brand Trust Report, India Study", a study on brand preference in the country.

In the study, conducted by the Trust Research Advisory (TRA), Nokia and Samsung, which came out as the two most trusted brands in the country this year, retained their leading positions in the east as well.

TRA, which started conducting researches on brand trust in 2011, studied India's 500 most trusted brands' movements in the eastern parts of the country along with a pan-India scenario.

East zone's third most trusted brand for 2013 was Tata, which had been at 8th rank last year. This year the brand stood at 5th position in all India.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was eastern India's sixth most trusted brand, while it stood at 17th rank all-India. East India's fondness for luxury cars became apparent with Audi entering as the ninth most trusted brand.

Godrej also made an entry in the list with 10th position in the east.

The Calcutta University surprisingly became the sixth most trusted brand in all India ranks in graduation and post-graduation category this year. This was the first time the varsity made it to the list.

Announcing the study here Friday, TRA chief executive officer N. Chandramouli said: "The east zone shows that it has extremely different preferences as compared to the rest of the country. Out of India's most trusted 500 brands, 141 did not make it to the east list."

Chandramouli said the brands which had over-performed the most in the east zone as compared to their all India ranks were LIC, Audi, Onida and Lee, while the brands which took the worst trust beating in the region compared to their all India position were BMW, Nike and Amul.

This year the study was conducted in the country's 16 cities.