CorpComms Magazine

More than two thirds of consumers will avoid purchasing products if they do not like the parent company, according to a recent global study commissioned by Weber Shandwick.

Further to this, 87 per cent of executives said that 'a strong corporate brand is just as important as strong product brands'.

The study entitled The Company behind the Brand: In Reputation We Trust found that just over two thirds of consumers are increasingly checking product labels to see what company is behind the product, and more than half will hesitate to buy a product if this information is unavailable.

One participant said: 'It is the company you are financially supporting when you buy its product. We have too many choices to buy a product from a company we don't like.'

More than half of consumers said that they were surprised to discover that a product they liked was made by a company that they did not like. And on making the discovery, two fifths will then stop purchasing the product.

The study found that almost 70 per cent of consumers will discuss how they feel about a purchase they have made, while 45 per cent are interested in discussing how specific companies treat their employees. Almost a third are keen to discuss how a company uses social media, and almost two fifths are interested in news about good deeds a specific company has done.

Consumers cited word of mouth as having the biggest impact on their opinion of a company, while online reviews were rated next most influential.

Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, said: 'As our research confirms, corporate and brand reputations are now nearly indivisible. The company standing behind the brand assures consumers that they can trust the quality, ethics and safety of the brands they are buying.'

The online research was conducted with KRC Research in October and November 2011 among 1,375 consumers and 575 senior executives in companies with annual revenues of $500 million or more.

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