Brand Names Put to Test in Survey : Consumers: Mercedes-Benz, Kodak come out on top in a report that attempts to compare perceptions of various products.
A survey of items as diverse as candy bars and health insurance found that consumers think Mercedes-Benz automobiles and Kodak film are tops in quality but that Continental Airlines and the rock music video channel MTV rank near the bottom.
Coke and Pepsi are dead even in terms of perceived quality, but the Pepsi generation seems more satisfied with its cola. And while Toyota owners are among the most loyal of any brand-name devotees, the average American says Buick offers more quality.
The survey, results of which were released Tuesday, is one of only a few that have attempted to compare consumers’ impressions of brand-name products in different market categories.
According to the study, done by Total Research Corp., Levi’s jeans were perceived to be a higher-quality product than Maxwell House coffee, and Michelin tires had a much better image than Aqua-Fresh toothpaste.
John Morton, who developed the idea for the research, said the broad perspective demonstrates that even products that are strong within their field sometimes need an image boost.
“You get lost in your own product category and you may think you’re doing pretty well when actually you’re very vulnerable,” said Morton, senior vice president of Total Research.
Examples of vulnerable brands, he said, are Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Holiday Inn and Lipton Soup. All ranked relatively high on an awareness scale but ranked lower in terms of consumers’ perceptions of quality. More importantly, regular consumers of these brands gave them relatively weak ratings.
One of the more surprising results of the survey was the relatively low-quality ratings given by consumers to all fast-food restaurants. Despite its dominant position in the field, McDonald’s fared no better than Burger King or Wendy’s, the other two chains included in the survey.
“My feeling about the fast-food restaurants is that their primary advantage to the public is price, convenience, speed and so forth,” Morton said. “Nobody has really tried to establish quality in that field.”
Other poor performers included cold remedies and airlines in general, although Continental Airlines stood near the bottom of every ranking.
The airline, a unit of Texas Air Inc., ranked 89th out of 91 brands in terms of quality and 90th in terms of awareness. In a ranking of quality as perceived by regular customers, the airline ranked last.
The survey also held some surprises among automobile brands, with Buick ranking well above Ford and Dodge, particularly among consumers who owned the various brands.
MTV, which ranked at the very bottom of the list of consumers’ perceptions of quality, was also considered the most controversial brand on the telephone survey of 1,000 households.
Among loyal viewers, however, the music-video cable channel fared relatively well, indicating that MTV performs well among a limited market segment.
The brands included in the survey, representing 33 product and service categories, were selected in an attempt to represent what Morton called “the entire consumer experience.”
From the results of the survey, the Princeton, N.J.-based research company determined that consumers can be classified in one of seven categories that can help predict their behavior.
The company said consumers tend to determine quality on the basis of whether products are sophisticated, practical, sentimental, project an image of energy, provide relief or escape, help in the struggle for popularity or reflect a “new traditionalism.”
Morton said Total Research hopes to sell the survey data to corporations included in the research or to their rivals. Subscriptions will cost $35,000 or $60,000, depending on how much information the subscriber wants.
THE BEST AND THE WORST
According to a survey of consumer attitudes toward 91 brand names conducted by Total Research Corp. in Princeton, N.J., the following products ranked in terms of perceived quality. The products were rated on a theoretical scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing a perfect product. The results were based on telephone interviews with respondents in 1,000 households nationwide in November and December.
ON THE TOP
1. Mercedes-Benz automobiles 84
2. Kodak film 84
3. Fisher-Price toys 82
4. Hallmark greeting cards 82
5. Levi’s jeans 80
6. IBM personal computers 80
7. Hershey chocolate bars 78
8. Lego toys 78
9. Michelin tires 77
10. Campbell soup 77
ON THE BOTTOM
82. Calvin Klein jeans 60
83. McDonald’s restaurants 60
84. Avon cosmetics 60
85. People magazine 59
86. Burger King restaurants 58
87. Dodge automobiles 58
88. Dristan cold remedy 58
89. Continental Airlines 56
90. Sanka coffee 55
91. MTV cable television station 52
