Differences by demographic

Plus 94 Research notes that brand reputation differs significantly by demographic, with reputation strength varying among age groups, races, genders and lifestyle groups.

For example, Toyota’s reputation was much stronger among males, while VW’s was stronger among females.

The top three most reputable companies among females were Checkers (84.49), Coca-Cola (84.03) and VW (82.15).

By contrast the top three most reputable companies among male respondents were Distell (83.01), Coca-Cola (82.33) and Vodacom (82.27).

While Coca-Cola overall was the best company, and tends to target a younger market, it was not the leading company among consumers aged 15 to 24.

In this age group Volkswagen was a clear number one (84.18), followed by Vodacom (83.73) and then Coca-Cola (81.91).

In the brand-conscious 25 to 34-year-old group, the company with the best reputation was Toyota (83.79), with VW coming second and Coca-Cola third.

In contrast, the 35 to 44 age group rated Distell (86) first, followed by Multichoice (84.26) and Vodacom (83.96).

In the 45-plus age group, Coca-Cola was ranked first with an impressive score of 88.11. In relatively poor second was Toyota (82.46) followed by Checkers (81.79).

When taking race into account the study revealed even more interesting differences, said Plus 94.

Vodacom (81.78) was the top company among black respondents, followed by Coca-Cola (80.86) and Multichoice (79.27). Among white respondents, the leading companies were Checkers, Coca-Cola and Distell.

Toyota led among coloured respondents, followed by Multichoice and VW, and among Indian respondents, the top three companies were Distell, Checkers and Vodacom.