Apple is the top company that meets customer expectations in almost all markets that it operates according to the Brand Keys 22nd annual 2017 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. The tech giant leads the field in brand engagement and customer loyalty, according to Brand Keys, a the New York-based brand engagement and customer loyalty research consultancy.
Apple was noted as the best representative of customer loyalty and enjoyment in laptops, tablets, smartphones and online music. Its subsidiary, Beats by Dr. Dre, tied with with LG for first place in the headphone category.
“Brand engagement’ is a measure of how well a brand meets expectations consumers hold for the path-to-purchase drivers in a given category,” says Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys. “Those drivers and expectations can be measured against a Category Ideal (100%) with brands best meeting consumers’ expectations generating greater loyalty and profits. Brands that cannot meet expectations lose customers and market share.”
This year, the Brand Keys CLEI examined 83 categories and 740 brands – from Automotive and OTC Allergy Medications to Computers, Fast-Casual Dining, Retail, Smartphones, and Alcoholic Beverages. Brand engagement leadership shifted dramatically in 49 of the 83 categories. On a cross-category basis, expectations have increased 23% over 2016, while brands have improved by only 4%, leaving an enormous gap between what consumers want and what brands are seen able to deliver, says Passikoff.
For the 2017 Customer Loyalty Engagment Index survey, 49,168 consumers, 16 to 65 years of age from the nine US Census Regions, self-selected the categories in which they are consumers and the brands for which they are customers. Seventy percent were interviewed by phone, 25% via face-to-face interviews (to identify and include cell phone- only households), and 5% online.
