The reputation of companies is important to 73% of buyers, of whom 37% give it high importance, and 36% – above average. Analysts from Ashmanov and Partners came to these conclusions.
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The study was conducted to find out what role the reputation of products and companies plays for buyers, as well as how the reputation factor has a negative and positive impact on sales. The survey involved 1,004 online shoppers from Moscow, St. Petersburg and cities with a population of over a million, who throughout the year made purchases in the categories of clothing and footwear, household goods, electronics and household appliances, cosmetics and perfumes, and food.
As the study showed, the top 3 factors determining the formation of reputation among Russian buyers included: experience using goods or services (75%), reading reviews (59%) and searching for information on the Internet (49%).
Analysts note that a positive reputation acts as a driver for consumers to make a purchase (70%), try a new product (66%), recommend a company to friends (64%) and leave a positive review about it (61%).
Source: Ashmanov and Partners
Companies with a strong reputation create a sense of ownership among customers. Customers expressed a high willingness to take actions not directly related to purchases, for example, defend the company, forgive it for a mistake, watch its advertising, etc. Reputation has the most motivating effect on young people (18-24 years old).
When asked what qualities buyers associate with a good reputation, most respondents chose: conscientiousness (63%), honesty (63%), ability to admit mistakes (37%) and openness (37%). Buyers less often associate reputation with expertise (24%), caring (22%) and technology (22%).
Analysts also found that buyers are willing to overpay for a positive reputation, while a negative reputation reduces the likelihood of a purchase. Among the proposed purchase scenarios, the most popular was the option where the company is respected and can be trusted, but its products are more expensive (56% are ready to make a purchase). The worst-case scenarios are when a company's product is not distrustful, but there are a lot of bad reviews about it (44% are not ready to make a purchase) or if the company is a leader in the market, but the quality of its products is deteriorating (41% are not ready to make a purchase).
Source: Ashmanov and Partners
Research: for 81% of buyers, a company’s reputation is important when choosing goods and services
Almost 80% of buyers periodically purchase goods based on online advertising
