A new survey called Brand Trust Report that determines India's most trusted brands across sectors reveals interesting insights. South Korean electronics company Samsung, which has been an arch-rival of Nokia topped the list while Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) jumped 69 ranks to be included in top ten list.
A survey conducted across 16 cities by Brand Trust Report throws forward startling facts about the 'trust quotient' that consumers place on various brands in India.
Samsung mobiles topped the list in the durables section beating market leaders such as Nokia and HTC followed closely by Sony and Tata. Tata is the only Indian brand to be placed in top 5 brands with the highest trust quotient index.
The survey which was carried out in major cities involved participants between the ages of 21-50 who were questioned on 61 critical points and a comparitive list was drawn.
Last year, the top three brands had been ranked second, third and fifth respectively, as per the Brand Trust Report 2014.
"The survey was conducted with salaried participants in companies with a minimum of 50,000 crore turn-over. Criteria such as their active online purchases and durables owned were taken into consideration," said N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA.
The Brand Trust Report has been conducted by Trust Research Advisory (TRA) annually, for the last four years to rank top 100 companies on the basis of active advertisement campaigns, consumer feedback and market penetration of brands.
Among the top 100 Most Trusted brands, 75 were net gainers while 25 took a fall. Mostly major brands have performed well jumping to top most positions while a couple of them slipped downwards.
TRA is in the process of releasing the list of top political parties next week, which should be an indicator of the mood of the country ahead of general elections this year.
The fourth and fifth spots belonged to LG electronics in the durables section and Nokia in personal gadgets section respectively.
Other firms in the top ten include Hewlett Packard, Hero, Honda, Reliance and M&M respectively. The most interesting entrant in the list is M&M which jumped a whooping 69 ranks with a strong mix of advertising and strong social media campaign with consumer connect.
"Mahindra's success can be be attributed to the fact that Mahindra has been trying hard to get the mind share of its target groups through traditional as well as new age media. Digital was the focus this year and they explored the benefits of different platforms very well," says Mitchelle Rozario Jansen, an Account lead for digital media firm who worked closely in charting out M&M's digital plans.
An independent study is under-way to profile Indian institutes and educational centers by the team. The most trusted Indian university is Jawaharlal Nehru University known for churning out intellectual and politically diversified minds in the country.
Only one company from BFSI sector-LIC could make it into the list of most trusted brands. The question being raised was, "How can brands which are long-term and meant to safeguard the financial security be so steeply untrusted?".
US-based computer maker Hewlett Packard has moved up 14 places in the annual report becoming the sixth most trusted brand, while Hero has leaped 79 ranks to number seven.
Some regional brands like Achchi Masala and Tata's Kannan Devan Tea made it into the list.
According to him, the 2014 list of top 100 has 11 diversified firms, 10 consumer electronics maker, nine from bath and beauty segment.
Some of the heavily criticised government bodies like MMRDA and BMC made it into the list based on consumer feedback.
Two brands represented by the duo Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made it to the list and Amitabh was listed as the most-trusted living person in India. While Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar maintained their position in the list, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan slipped further down the list on the trust quotient.
What is trust quotient?
As per TRA, trust quotient is the confidence shown by consumers towards a particular brand over a period of time. It can be residual or built over a period of time with advertising. For example, although Hero Honda is no longer an individual brand but two different brands, consumers still believe them to be an unified brand. This is residual trust.
Here's the list of top ten brands:
1. Samsung
2. Sony
3. Tata
4. LG
5. Nokia
6. Hewlett Packard
7. Hero
8. Honda
9. Reliance
10. M&M
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