Does familiarity breed favorability or contempt? New research by John Gilfeather, vice chairman at Roper Public Affairs, NOP World; and Tina Carroll, Ph.D. candidate
at the University of Miami, comes to a strong conclusion: Corporate management that under-invests in communications simply is not fulfilling its stewardship
responsibilities.
The researchers analyzed reputation data for 30 global companies based on responses from 6,000 Americans regarding companies representing six different industries: consumer
products, automotive, pharmaceutical, entertainment, technology and financial services. For every industry and on every measure studied, the results are consistent (see
table). People who report they are "extremely familiar" or "very familiar" with a company have more favorable impressions than people who say they are "somewhat familiar" or
who only know the name of a company.
Just how widespread is the impact of this? Respondents who described themselves as being "extremely familiar" or "very familiar" are more likely to:
- recommend a company's products and services to a friend.
- recommend investment in a company.
- believe that a company gives back to the community.
- believe that a company is open and honest.
- believe a company will prosper in the long run.
- say a company has high-quality products.
- say a company cares for its employees.
This paper and other current research works are available free at http://www.instituteforpr.com.
Contact: Frank Ovaitt, [email protected].