Brands In One Word – Equifax

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We recently collected feedback about Equifax using our #BrandsInOneWord approach to measuring attitudes. This method requires each respondent to provide one word that best describes a particular brand. Next, applying our sentiment lexicon to the words, we calculate a Brand Sentiment Index. The #BrandsInOneWord results for Equifax appear below.

Equifax is Equif*cked

The Equifax brand has taken a beating due to their recent security fiasco and it shows in the words people use to describe the brand. The most common words that best describe Equifax were: F*ckedScam and Untrustworthy. To see all the words that best describe Equifax, we created a word cloud of the Equifax logo using the words from the respondents (more frequently used words appear larger in the image). You can see the Equifax word cloud in Figure 1 (we used tagxedo.com to make the image).

Equifax Brand Sentiment Index

Equifax’s Brand Sentiment Index (BSI) was calculated to be 4.6. Scores for the BSI can range from a low of 0 (negative sentiment/satisfaction) to 10 (positive sentiment). So, with a BSI of 4.6, brand sentiment for Equifax is, not surprisingly, on the negative end of the continuum. In fact, 59% of the respondents used negatively valued words to describe Equifax (below 5.0 – midpoint of the BSI scale). Equifax’s BSI is the lowest sentiment value I have seen since creating this approach two years ago.

Figure 1. Word cloud of Equifax. Brand Sentiment Index = 4.6 (on a 0-10 scale). Click image to enlarge.

What does it mean for Equifax?

We suspect that Equifax’s loyalty is quite low. We know that people’s perception of a brand is related to their propensity to engage in different types of loyalty behaviors toward the brand. For example, we found that customers with negative sentiment (measured using our approach) were less likely to recommend the brand, renew their service contract and expand usage of the brand’s products. Based on our predictive models, we suspect that around 70% of people would be classified as Detractors (in NPS jargon – would not recommend Equifax)

Additionally, Equifax might have a difficult time improving the sentiment around their brand. We know that sentiment is relatively stable over time, compared to satisfaction and recommendations. Specifically, in a study spanning over 12 months, we found that the correlation between sentiment from time 1 and sentiment from time 2 was r = .60 (for satisfaction, r = 42; for recommendation, r = .27). Customers who tended to report negative sentiment at time 1 tended to have negative sentiment at time 2.

#BrandsInOneWord Survey for Amazon, Apple, Equifax, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Samsung

While we collected data for Equifax via Twitter (Thanks, Dez Blanchfield for helping me collect those responses), we are now collecting feedback via an online survey. Because we are still developing this sentiment measurement approach, we would love your help.

We are currently seeking respondents to provide one-word answers about the following brands: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Samsung. We are also including Equifax in this survey to increase the sample size. We will present the results for each brand in December. In return for your response, we will send you the results of our analysis before we publish them. Simply click the link below and provide your responses. We are collecting responses through the end of November and will report results in December.

#BrandsInOneWord Survey (for Amazon, Apple, Equifax, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Samsung)

Thanks for your help.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

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