SANTA ANA, Calif. (Sept. 6, 2018) — Holiday Inn, an Atlanta, Ga. company, finished at the top of the hotel category in a national survey measuring the trustworthiness of the nation’s largest brands in eight key industries. Hilton landed in second place, followed by Hyatt, Sheraton, Marriott, and Best Western.
The survey, which measured how well 43 of the largest U.S. brands connect with customers, found that hotels and appliances are the country’s most trusted brand categories while cell service providers and rideshare services rank lowest on the public trust spectrum.
The Values Institute (TVI), a leading social science research entity based in Santa Ana, Calif., created the National Most Trustworthy Brands Survey by deploying a proprietary online survey to 1,500 respondents across the nation and asking them to rank the six largest national brands in eight key categories. TVI calculated trust by looking at 25 trust dimensions in the five “macro” categories of Competence, Consistency, Connection, Candor and Concern. The national diagnostic survey measured brand strengths and weaknesses in each category, plus the trust outcomes of Loyalty, Advocacy and Satisfaction.
The hotels category experienced a sizable boost in overall trust score from the previous survey, which helped it secure the top spot of most trusted brand category for the second year in a row. Large growth from Holiday Inn (+22 points), Best Western (+12 points), and Hyatt (+9 points) contributed to this increase as the category dominated the trust survey. Hotel brands comprised four of the top ten spots in most trustworthy brands, with the lowest ranked hotel brand (Best Western) still in the top 50% of all brands.
“With the increase in travel in 2018, the hotel industry is faring well as a whole. The trust in the category as a whole has increased compared to last year,” said Mark Weinfeld, the research director at TVI who runs the survey. “Holiday Inn has moved up to the top based on some strong momentum from opening over 60 new properties in the US in the first half of the year. They seem to be filling a void that exists in family-friendly spaces with great value. It is interesting that only market leaders Marriott and Hilton saw declines and the other more value-oriented brands all gained in trust.”
A total of 43 major brands in fast food, airlines, cell service providers, rideshare, retail, hotels, appliances, and online video/music streaming were measured. In addition to Holiday Inn, other brands to receive most-trustworthy honors include Whirlpool (appliances), Lyft (rideshare), Southwest (airlines), AT&T (cell service providers), Amazon (retail), Wendy’s (QSR) and Amazon Prime (online video/music streaming).
“Trust is more important than ever in building brand equity and differentiation,” says TVI Founder and CEO Mike Weisman. “It has become a precious commodity, and its limited supply in the marketplace has stimulated consumer demand. This year’s survey certainly shines the light on those brands like Holiday Inn that have a legacy of building a true relationship to the brand versus other who have spent millions to buy a relationship through loyalty points.”
