BrandSpark Announces 2019 ‘Most Trusted’ Awards for Financial Services

6,900 Canadian consumers surveyed about what brands they trust most — and what builds brand trust

Chicago, IL (Aug. 19, 2019) – Leading market research firm BrandSpark International is pleased to announce the 2019 winners of its BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards (“BMTA”) program across major e-commerce and services brands. Amazon leads the way in the e-commerce categories, and businesses prioritizing trust — through unfiltered customer reviews, responsive customer service, and personalized offers — lead the way in the major services categories.

Based on a survey of 6,900 Canadians, BrandSpark determined the most trusted brands in 61 diverse e-commerce and service categories. While Amazon won a majority of the e-commerce categories, specialized retailers, including Best Buy, Sephora and Sport Chek, were strongest in their categories. In services, heritage brands are strong in established categories, while new and emerging categories are being won by brands that offer the best service and that acquire subscribers quickly.

“In an increasingly online world, trust has never been more important,” says Robert Levy, President of BrandSpark International. “Shoppers are seeking new and different signifiers of trust, such as online reviews and consumer-based awards on brand websites. Being a winning brand in the 2019 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards is a major accomplishment. The program tells shoppers which companies are trusted by other Canadians. This allows consumers to make better purchasing decisions, as trust is the greatest indicator of delivering value and a good customer experience.”

Through the study, Canadian shoppers revealed key factors that help grow brand trust:

• 71 per cent of Canadian shoppers feel that trust is established through unfiltered customer reviews on brand websites. In fact, a majority of shoppers now rely on product and service reviews to support their purchase decisions, and without these reviews, many refuse to transact.
• 75 per cent of Canadian shoppers say that companies that listen to online reviews and feedback show more accountability and care for their customers.
• 66 per cent of Canadian shoppers appreciate receiving discounts or special offers that are tailored to their interests based on the websites they visit.

Insurance & Financial Services Winners

The BrandSpark study finds that one in two Canadian shoppers have lost trust in a service provider they previously trusted, due mainly to hidden fees and rising prices, as well as difficulty finding resolution for their complaints. Canadians expect fair prices and transparency from service providers. Consumer recommendation, company values, and innovations can help providers increase trust in their service. 62 per cent of consumers say that reliable customer support improves their trust in a service greatly; 59 per cent value consistency of high quality goods or services.

In the loyalty program category, Loblaw’s successful expansion of the Optimum program has grown it into Canada’s most trusted loyalty program. SkipTheDishes beat UberEats with 26 per cent more citations as Canadians’ most trusted Food Delivery Site, and companies like GoodFood have also had major success, surpassing HelloFresh in the Meal Kit Delivery category. Kijiji is the most trusted Online Buy and Sell Classifieds site and Manulife now ties with Sun Life Financial as the most trusted life insurance provider nationally, while Industrielle Alliance is the leader in Quebec.

“With the similarity of many service offerings, companies must race to acquire a strong consumer base, and then continually meet those consumers’ needs to prevent them from switching to a competitor,” says Levy. “Trust is an important deciding factor for consumers, and the strength of the BrandSpark Most Trusted logo reinforces that trust.”

The 2019 services winners are listed below by category.

• Auto Insurance: Intact Insurance
• Health Insurance: Blue Cross
• Home Insurance: Intact Insurance
• Life Insurance: Sun Life and Manulife (tie)
• Life Insurance (Québec): Industrielle Alliance
• Loyalty Program: PC Optimum
• Mortgage Provider: RBC and Scotiabank and TD (tie)
• Mortgage Provider (Québec): Desjardins
• Travel Insurance: CAA

For a complete list of 2019 Most Trusted winners in both service and e-commerce categories, see BrandSpark’s press release (PDF) or read it as a webpage on newswire.ca.

About BrandSpark Most Trusted Service & E-Commerce Awards

More than 6,900 Canadians determined the 2019 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards services and e-commerce winners through their unaided citations of service providers and e-commerce retailers they trust most within categories in which they are active consumers. BrandSpark researchers analyzed the responses and the reasons cited for trusting each service provider and e-commerce retailer. Results were ranked based on volume of mentions and if the difference between competing brands nationally was less than three percent ties were declared.

About BrandSpark

Founded in 2001, BrandSpark International uniquely combines real world consumer insights with marketing credentials and services. BrandSpark Insights gets at the heart of WHAT consumers think, WHY they act the way they do, and HOW marketers need to respond in order to successfully grow their business. BrandSpark Marketing Services runs major awards programs Best New Product Awards and BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards. For more information, visit www.brandspark.com.

In addition, BrandSpark has created Shopper Army, a new consumer site which helps Canadian shoppers find great products and save money with cash back on purchases made on Amazon.ca and 60+ other retail partners, as well as a shopper community of product testers providing honest ratings and reviews. Visit www.ShopperArmy.ca

Further insights will be shared in early fall, when BrandSpark hosts an awards event for marketers from the brands that are Most Trusted.

SOURCE: BrandSpark International

Tags: awards, BrandSpark, CAA Insurance, Desjardins, Industrial Alliance, Intact, Manulife, Medavie Blue Cross, RBC Insurance, Scotiabank, Sun Life, TD Read the original article at Insurance-Canada.ca