Consumers choose Competence as most important for trust in 2016

In the present brand-infused world, a brand’s penchant for being trusted depends on a complex mix of factors. The Brand Trust Report, India Study 2016, launched earlier this year, is India’s only comprehensive primary study on Brand Trust, and is published annually since 2011.According to the Report, in 2016, Competence of a brand outweighs other aspects in creating trust. On the other hand in2015, building customer confidencewas the primary requirement for gaining consumer trust. These findings are the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA (formerly known as Trust Research Advisory). The 2016 study involved 18,000 hours of fieldwork covering 2500 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India and generated 6 million data-points.

“Consumers seem to have been spoilt for choice in terms of brands. As they begin to spend more time scrutinising brands before buying, it becomes essential for brands to maintain their credibility and reinforce consumer’s Trust. In a trust deficit market where brands are continually coming under scrutiny, a need arises for brands to appeal to the rational side of the brain. The perception of ‘Competence’ therefore, enables consumers to believe what they see.Tangible outcomes matter most to the consumer in terms of gaining and maintaining Trust in brands, “said N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA.

“The Brand Trust Report highlights how building Trust is an essential factor of a communication strategy that helps transaction and this year brands that display high competence seem to be favoured for trust among consumers.Last year it was important for brands to emanate those messages and signals that made the consumer feel comfortable tocreate a bridge of trust. The perceived genuineness of the brand was thus sufficient for gaining consumer trust”,N. Chandramouli added.