Lady LUX

Amazon wins fans over according to a new study conducted by Millward Brown. It was considered both the most trustworthy and highest in recommendation, which are the two most coveted spaces in branding success.

The purpose of this study was to test a new measure that looks at the relationship between branding and consumers, especially with all of the economic shifts in the past two years. The report is titled, ‘Beyond Trust: Engaging Consumers in the Post-Recession World’ and is aimed to look at the investment of financial commitment from consumers.

“When a person recommends a brand they put their own personal trust and credibility on the line. They are only willing to recommend brands which themselves have proven reliable and trustworthy,” said Nigel Hollis, EVP and Chief Global Analyst of Millward Brown. “Amazon.com, the brand ranked first in the U.S. by TrustR, has achieved that status through exceptional service and providing its own recommendations to users. This combination has made Amazon the gold standard of trust and recommendation in the U.S.”

It tested out how the level of ‘trust’ influenced customer behavior in branding. What they found is that trust was quite significant in the behavior of the consumer! Interesting, right? So the perception of trust and knowing the company was a big factor in determining whether a consumer would even buy. Those that were rated higher on this scale fared quite well even with a more selective customer.

You might be interested to know the remaining top 4 brands that came right after Amazon were FedEx, Downy and Huggies, and Tide.

In this new study, an instrument called ‘TrustR’ was used as a new metric to measure the ‘understanding and strengthening of the bond between consumers and brands.’

“The ‘TrustR’ metric is very relevant in a global economy that is struggling to emerge from a gloomy recessionary period,” commented Eileen Campbell, Global CEO of Millward Brown. “Consumers are less likely to spend hard-earned money on brands that they don’t trust.”

So how do these brands fare with you LUXies? Do you trust these brands? Looking forward to seeing if you agree with the findings.

Tagged in: amazon, branding, engaging customers, millward brown, trust,