Brand trust is critical for strengthening the overall relationships that utilities have with their customers. What¡¯s more, there is a significant monetary value that can be linked directly to trust. These and other findings are contained in a new report from Cogent Reports™, a division of Market Strategies International, that measures customer engagement with electric and natural gas utilities.
The 2014 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement study is based on a survey of 19,000 residential utility customers served by the 125 largest natural gas, electric and combination utilities in the United States. It is the first study for the utility industry to provide a holistic view of the complex relationship consumers have with their utility providers by including measurements for brand trust along with operational satisfaction and product experience.
In addition to the study, Cogent Reports released a list of the 53 utilities categorized as most trusted brands in each of 12 regional and industry segments. Florida Power & Light is the nation¡¯s most trusted electric utility and receives the highest overall brand trust score (724 points out of a possible 1,000 points) of any utility. Oklahoma Natural Gas ranks first in trust among gas utilities nationally, while MidAmerican is the most trusted combination utility provider. Overall performance and tier structure vary by region and type of utility, with all companies named achieving a minimum threshold score of 650.
